Simultaneous transmission of signals, such as orthogonal-frequency-division-multiplexed (OFDM) signals, that include a same frequency

PRIORITY DATA

0001The present application claims the benefit of priority to the following applications. The present application is a Continuation-in-Part of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/284,879, filed Oct. 29, 2011, Ser. No. 13/284,890 filed Oct. 29, 2011, Ser. No. 13/284,894 filed Oct. 29, 2011, and Ser. No. 13/284,898 filed Oct. 29, 2011, each application Ser. Nos. 13/284,879, 13/284,890, 13/284,894, and 13/284,898 claiming the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/495,218, filed Jun. 9, 2011, each application Ser. Nos. 13/284,879, 13/284,890, 13/284,894, and 13/284,898 also being a Continuation-in-Part of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/963,569, filed Dec. 8, 2010, application Ser. No. 12/963,569 claiming the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Nos. 61/360,367, filed Jun. 30, 2010, and 61/267,667, filed Dec. 8, 2009, application Ser. No. 12/963,569 also being a Continuation-in-Part of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/579,935, filed Oct. 15, 2009, and Ser. No. 12/579,969, filed Oct. 15, 2009, each application Ser. Nos. 12/579,935 and 12/579,969 claiming the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. Nos. 61/158,290, filed Mar. 6, 2009, and 61/105,704, filed Oct. 15, 2008. All of the foregoing applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

RELATED APPLICATION DATA

0002The present application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/560,939, entitled RECOVERING DATA FROM A PRIMARY ONE OF SIMULTANEOUS SIGNALS, SUCH AS ORTHOGONAL-FREQUENCY-DIVISION-MULTIPLEXED (OFDM) SIGNALS, THAT INCLUDE A SAME FREQUENCY filed Jul. 27, 2012, is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/560,947, entitled RECOVERING DATA FROM A SECONDARY ONE OF SIMULTANEOUS SIGNALS, SUCH AS ORTHOGONAL-FREQUENCY-DIVISION-MULTIPLEXED (OFDM) SIGNALS, THAT INCLUDE A SAME FREQUENCY filed Jul. 27, 2012, and all of the foregoing applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

SUMMARY

0003In an embodiment, a transmitter includes detection, generating, and transmission stages. The detection stage is configured to detect a first signal having a first component that includes a frequency, and the generating stage is configured to generate a data component that includes approximately the frequency in response to the detection of the first signal. The transmission stage is configured to transmit a second signal having the data component while the detection stage is detecting the first signal.

0004For example, two or more orthogonal-frequency-division-multiplexing (OFDM) transmitters (e.g., two or more smart phones) may simultaneously transmit signals to the same receiver, or to respective receivers, on the same subcarrier frequencies and over the same channel space. A higher-priority transmitter is configured to transmit a primary OFDM signal that carries pilot symbols on pilot subcarriers and data symbols on data subcarriers. While the higher-priority transmitter is not transmitting an OFDM signal, a lower-priority transmitter is configured to transmit a mono-transmission-mode secondary OFDM signal that carries pilot symbols on the pilot subcarriers and data symbols on the data subcarriers; that is, the secondary OFDM signal has the same format as the primary OFDM signal while the higher-priority transmitter is not transmitting an OFDM signal. But while the higher-priority transmitter is transmitting a primary OFDM signal, the lower-priority transmitter is configured to transmit a simultaneous-transmission-mode secondary OFDM signal that carries pilot symbols and data symbols on the pilot subcarriers, and that carries no data symbols on the data subcarriers (e.g., the data subcarriers of a simultaneous-transmission-mode secondary OFDM signal may have approximately zero energy).

0005By allowing the simultaneous transmission of multiple signals on the same frequencies and over the same channel space, such transmitters may increase the effective bandwidth of the channel space, and thus may allow more devices (e.g., smart phones) to simultaneously share the same channel space. Furthermore, one or more of such transmitters may be moving relative to their corresponding receivers while simultaneously transmitting signals.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

0006<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref> is a diagram of an embodiment of base and client orthogonal-frequency-division-multiplexing (OFDM) transmitter-receivers that are not moving significantly relative to one another while they are communicating with one another.

0007<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref> is a plot of an embodiment of the frequencies of the carrier signals (solid lines) generated by the presently transmitting transmitter-receiver of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>, and of the frequency “slots” (dashed lines) that these carrier signals may respectively occupy at the presently receiving transmitter-receiver of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>.

0008<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref> is a diagram of an embodiment of base and client OFDM transmitter-receivers that are moving relative to one another while they are communicating with one another.

0009<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 4</figref> is a plot of an embodiment of the frequencies of carrier signals (solid lines) generated by the presently transmitting transmitter-receiver of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref>, and of the frequency slot (dashed line) that the center one of these plotted carrier signals may occupy at the presently receiving transmitter-receiver of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref>.

0010<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 5</figref> is a plot of an embodiment of the frequencies of carrier signals generated by the presently transmitting transmitter-receiver of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref>, where the carrier signals are grouped into clusters of data-carrier signals (data clusters) and clusters of pilot-carrier signals (pilot clusters).

0011<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 6</figref> is a plot of an embodiment of data clusters and pilot clusters generated by the presently transmitting transmitter-receiver of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref>, where the pilot clusters have a uniform separation.

0012<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 7</figref> is a plot of an embodiment of a pilot cluster.

0013<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 8</figref> is a plot of another embodiment of a pilot cluster.

0014<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 9</figref> is a diagram of an embodiment of the receiver of one or both of the base and client transmitter-receivers of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref>.

0015<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref> is a diagram of OFDM transmitters that may simultaneously transmit signals that include at least one same frequency over a shared transmission-channel space to respective receivers according to an embodiment.

0016<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 11A and 11B</figref> are plots of a primary OFDM signal being transmitted by a higher-priority transmitter, and of a secondary OFDM signal being simultaneously transmitted by a lower-priority transmitter, according to an embodiment.

0017<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 12</figref> is a diagram of OFDM transmitters that may simultaneously transmit signals that include at least one same frequency over a shared transmission-channel space to a common receiver according to an embodiment.

0018<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 13</figref> is a diagram of a higher-priority transmitter that may transmit a primary OFDM signal according to an embodiment.

0019<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 14</figref> is a diagram of a lower-priority transmitter that may transmit a secondary OFDM signal according to an embodiment.

0020<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 15</figref> is a diagram of the communication channels between the transmitters and receivers of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref>, and of the multiple paths that respectively form each of the channels, according to an embodiment.

0021<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 16</figref> is a diagram of the communication channels between the transmitters and receiver of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 12</figref>, and of the multiple paths that respectively form each of the channels, according to an embodiment.

0022<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 17</figref> is a diagram of a higher-priority receiver that may receive, and recover data from, a primary OFDM signal according to an embodiment.

0023<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 18</figref> is a diagram of the signal-recovery unit of the higher-priority receiver of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 17</figref> according to an embodiment.

0024<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 19</figref> is a diagram of a lower-priority receiver that may receive, and recover data from, a secondary OFDM signal according to an embodiment.

0025<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 20</figref> is a diagram of the simultaneous-transmission-mode data-recovery unit of the receiver of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 19</figref> according to an embodiment.

0026<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 21</figref> is a diagram of a higher-priority receiver that may receive, and recover data from, a primary OFDM signal according to another embodiment.

0027<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 22</figref> is a diagram of a receiver that may operate as a higher-priority receiver or a lower-priority receiver according to an embodiment.

0028<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 23</figref> is a diagram of a receiver that may operate as a higher-priority receiver or a lower-priority receiver according to another embodiment.

0029<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 24</figref> is a diagram of a transmitter-receiver that includes a transmitter, such as the transmitter of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 13</figref> or <b>14</b>, and a receiver, such as the receiver of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 17</figref>, <b>19</b>, <b>21</b>, <b>22</b>, or <b>23</b>.

0030<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 25</figref> is a diagram of a system that includes a transmitter-receiver, such as the transmitter-receiver of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 24</figref>, and a controller.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

0031<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref> is a diagram of an embodiment of a base transmitter-receiver <b>10</b> and of a client transmitter-receiver <b>12</b>, which communicates with the base transmitter-receiver over a wireless channel <b>14</b> via multicarrier signals (e.g., OFDM signals) while remaining substantially stationary relative to the base transmitter-receiver. For example, the base <b>10</b> may be a wireless router in a home or office, and the client <b>12</b> may be a computer that communicates with the base via OFDM signals that have N carriers. One or more antennas <b>16</b> are coupled to the base <b>10</b>, and one or more antennas <b>18</b> are coupled to the client <b>12</b>. Each antenna <b>16</b> may function as only a transmit antenna, as only a receive antenna, or as a transmit-receive antenna; and each antenna <b>18</b> may function similarly. Furthermore, the channel <b>14</b> may include Z multiple paths L₀-L_z-1over which the multicarrier signals propagate. For example, a first path L₀may be a straight-line path between the antennas <b>16</b> and <b>18</b>, and a second path L₁and subsequent paths L₂-L_Z-1may each be a respective multi-segmented path that is caused by signal reflections from one or more objects (not shown in <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>) near the base <b>10</b> or the client <b>12</b>, or near or within the channel <b>14</b>.

0032<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref> is a frequency plot of some of the N carriers (here, carriers N-a to N-(a-<b>8</b>) are shown in solid line and are hereinafter called “subcarriers”) of an embodiment of an OFDM data symbol <b>20</b>, which may be transmitted by the base <b>10</b> of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref> and received by the client <b>12</b>, or vice versa—an OFDM data symbol is a portion of an OFDM signal that is modulated with the same data subsymbols for a symbol period. Each of the subcarriers N-a to N-(a-<b>8</b>) has a respective frequency f_N-a-f_N-(a-8), and is orthogonal to the other subcarriers. In this context, “orthogonal” means that, in the absence of inter-carrier interference (discussed below) and noise, one may construct a time-domain signal from these modulated subcarriers (e.g., using an Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT)), and then extract these modulated subcarriers, and the information that they carry, from the time-domain signal (e.g., using a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT)) with no loss of information. Furthermore, although the base <b>10</b> is described as transmitting the OFDM signal in the example below, it is understood that this example would be similar if the client <b>12</b> were transmitting the OFDM signal.

0033Referring to <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 1 and 2</figref>, the transmitter of the base <b>10</b> modulates each of at least some of the N subcarriers with a respective data value (hereinafter a data subsymbol) for a time period hereinafter called a symbol period—the transmitter may not use one or more of the N subcarriers due to, for example, excessive interference at the frequencies of these subcarriers. Examples of suitable modulation schemes include binary phase-shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK), and quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), the latter two schemes each utilizing multi-bit data subsymbols.

0034The frequency spacing f_sbetween adjacent ones of the N subcarriers is typically constant, and is conventionally selected to minimize inter-carrier interference (ICI), which is a phenomenon that occurs if energy from one subcarrier “spills over” to the frequency slot of another subcarrier at the receiver of the client <b>12</b>. At the transmitter of the base <b>10</b>, each of the active ones of the N subcarriers has a frequency f_k(for k=0 to N−1) represented by a respective one of the solid lines (only the frequencies f_kfor k=N-a to N-(a-<b>8</b>) are shown in <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref>). But at the receiver of the client <b>12</b>, the respective frequency f_kof each subcarrier may be effectively shifted within a respective frequency slot <b>22</b> indicated by the dashed lines (only the slots <b>22</b> of the frequencies f_kfor k=N-a to N-(a-<b>8</b>) are shown in <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref>). For example, at the receiver of the client <b>12</b>, the frequency f_N-aof the subcarrier N-a may be shifted to another location within the frequency slot <b>22</b>_N-a, or may be “spread” over multiple locations within this frequency slot. Causes for this frequency shifting/spreading may include, for example, the existence of multiple transmission paths (e.g., paths L₀-L_Z-1for Z>1), and channel conditions (e.g., humidity, temperature) that may effectively shift the respective phase and attenuate the respective amplitude of each modulated subcarrier.

0035To allow the receiver of the client <b>12</b> to recover the data subsymbols in the presence of ICI, other interference, or noise, the transmitter of the base <b>10</b> transmits an OFDM training symbol—a “training symbol” is the combination of all the training subsymbols transmitted during a training-symbol period—shortly before transmitting an OFDM data symbol—a “data symbol” is the combination of all of the data subsymbols transmitted during an OFDM data-symbol period. That is, the transmitter of the base <b>10</b> transmits the training symbol during a first OFDM symbol period, and transmits the data symbol during a second, subsequent OFDM symbol period. Because the receiver of the client <b>12</b> “knows” the identity of the transmitted training symbol ahead of time, the receiver characterizes the channel <b>14</b> by comparing the received training symbol with the “known” transmitted training symbol. For example, the receiver may characterize the channel <b>14</b> by generating an N×N matrix Ĥ of estimated complex frequency-domain coefficients that respectively represent the estimated frequency response (e.g., the imparted ICI, amplitude attenuation, and phase shift) of the channel at each of the subcarrier frequencies f_k—the “^” indicates that a matrix is an estimate of a matrix of actual values, e.g., that Ĥ is an estimate of the actual channel matrix H. As discussed in more detail below, the receiver may then use this channel-estimation matrix Ĥ to recover transmitted data symbols from respective received data symbols.

0036<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref> is a diagram of an embodiment of the base transmitter-receiver <b>10</b> and of the client transmitter-receiver <b>12</b> of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>, but where the base and client are moving relative to one another at a non-zero velocity (the velocity may be constant or may be time varying, i.e., an acceleration) while they are communicating with one another, and where like numbers refer to components common to <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 1 and 3</figref>. For example, the base <b>10</b> may be a cell tower, and the client <b>12</b> may be an internet-capable smart phone that is located within a moving automobile <b>24</b>. The base <b>10</b> and the client <b>12</b> may communicate with one another according to one or more communications standards that specify OFDM technology for mobile communications. These standards include, for example, the DVB-H standard and the WiMAX standard. Furthermore, although only the client <b>12</b> is shown as moving, in other embodiments the base <b>10</b> may be moving and the client <b>12</b> may be stationary, or both the base and the client may be moving simultaneously.

0037<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 4</figref> is a frequency plot of some of the N subcarriers (here, subcarriers N-a to N-(a-<b>8</b>) in solid line) of an embodiment of an OFDM symbol <b>25</b> that may be transmitted by the base <b>10</b> of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref> and received by the client <b>12</b>, or vice versa. Although the base <b>10</b> is described as transmitting the OFDM symbol in the example below, it is understood that this example would be similar if the client <b>12</b> were transmitting the OFDM symbol.

0038At the base <b>10</b>, the OFDM symbol may be similar to the OFDM symbol of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref> in that the base modulates each of at least some of the N subcarriers with a respective data subsymbol, and each of the data-modulated ones of the N subcarriers has a center frequency f_krepresented by a respective one of the solid lines.

0039But at the receiving client <b>12</b>, the frequency f_kof a subcarrier k may be shifted/spread by one or more times f_sas indicated by the frequency slot <b>26</b>_N-(a-4)of the subcarrier k=N-(a-<b>4</b>) (only this one frequency slot is shown in <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref> for clarity) such that energy from a subcarrier k may spill over to the frequencies of one or more adjacent subcarriers (e.g., k−1, k+1) on either side of the subcarrier k. For example, in the embodiment shown in <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 4</figref>, energy from the subcarrier k=N-(a-<b>4</b>) may spill over to the frequencies f_N-a-F_N-(a-3)and f_N-(a-5)-f_N-(a-8)of the subcarriers k=N-a to N-(a-<b>3</b>) and k=N-(a-<b>5</b>) to N-(a-<b>8</b>).

0040The frequency shifts/spreads of the received OFDM subcarriers of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 4</figref> may be significantly greater than the frequency shifts/spreads of the received OFDM subcarriers of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref> because, in addition to the causes for this frequency shifting/spreading described above (e.g., the existence of multiple transmission paths L and channel conditions), the received OFDM subcarriers of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 4</figref> may also experience respective Doppler shifts caused by the relative movement between the base <b>10</b> and the client <b>12</b>.

0041According to the Doppler Effect, the frequency of a signal at a receiver is different from the frequency of the signal at a transmitter if the receiver and transmitter are moving relative to one another at a non-zero velocity. If the receiver and transmitter are moving away from one another, then the frequency of the signal at the receiver is typically lower than the frequency of the signal at the transmitter; conversely, if the receiver and transmitter are moving toward one another, then the frequency of the signal at the receiver is typically higher than the frequency of the signal at the transmitter. For example, a person (receiver) who is listening to the whistle of an approaching train (transmitter) may experience this phenomenon. While the train is moving toward the person, the person perceives the whistle as having a pitch (frequency) that is higher than the pitch that one on the train would perceive the whistle as having. But after the train passes the person, and is thus moving away from him/her, the person perceives the whistle as having a pitch lower than the pitch that one on the train would perceive the whistle as having.

0042Consequently, the subcarrier frequencies of the OFDM symbol <b>25</b> (<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 4</figref>) may be influenced by the Doppler Effect in a similar manner at the receiver of the client <b>12</b> (<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref>).

0043A measure of the influence that the Doppler Effect has on a single transmitted tone (e.g., an unmodulated subcarrier signal with constant, non-zero amplitude) is the “Doppler Spread”, which is the bandwidth that the tone may occupy at the receiver due to the Doppler Effect. For example, suppose that the frequency of the tone is 1,000 Hz at the transmitter, but that at the receiver, due to the non-zero velocity of the receiver relative to the transmitter, the received tone may have a frequency anywhere from 980 Hz to 1,020 Hz depending on the instantaneous velocity. Therefore, in this example, the Doppler Spread=1020 Hz−980 Hz=40 Hz. That is, the Doppler Spread is (40 Hz)/(1000 Hz)=4% of the frequency of the transmitted tone—although expressed here in Hz and as a percentage of the transmitted frequency, the Doppler Spread may be expressed in other quantities as described below.

0044For mobile OFDM devices, one may characterize the ICI caused by the Doppler Spread of a subcarrier in terms of the highest number of adjacent subcarriers with which the subcarrier may interfere. For example, the total Doppler induced ICI caused by the 50^th(k=50) subcarrier is greater if energy from this subcarrier spills over to the 48^th, 49^th, 51^st, and 52^ndsubcarriers, and is less if energy from this subcarrier spills over to only the 49^thand 51^stsubcarriers. In actuality, because the Doppler Spread of a subcarrier may cause the subcarrier to spill over energy into many or all of the other N subcarrier slots to some degree, one may set a Doppler Spread interference threshold below which one subcarrier is deemed to be unaffected by the Doppler Spread of another subcarrier; such threshold may have units of, e.g., power or amplitude. Therefore, for a mobile OFDM device, the extent of Doppler induced ICI caused by a subcarrier k may be defined in terms of the number of adjacent subcarriers (above and below the subcarrier k in question) that may experience a level of ICI above the Doppler Spread interference threshold for the device. Furthermore, although in some applications one may assume that all of the subcarriers k experience the same Doppler Spread, in other applications, one may decide not to make this assumption.

0045Consequently, referring to <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 3 and 4</figref>, the frequency slots <b>26</b> (only the frequency slot <b>26</b>_N-(a-4)of the subcarrier N-(a-<b>4</b>) is shown for clarity) each represent the bandwidth that a respective subcarrier transmitted by the base <b>10</b> may occupy at the receiving client <b>12</b> due to all causes (e.g., the existence of multiple transmission paths L, channel conditions, and Doppler Spread). But when the base <b>10</b> and client <b>12</b> are moving relative to one another, the greatest contributor to the frequency-slot bandwidth may be the Doppler Spread.

0046Still referring to <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 3 and 4</figref>, because the Doppler Spread of an OFDM signal may vary relatively quickly with time, transmitting a training symbol separately from the data symbol may not allow the receiver of the client <b>12</b> to adequately determine the channel-estimation matrix Ĥ for the channel <b>14</b> as it exists while the OFDM data symbol is being transmitted.

0047Consequently, mobile OFDM devices, such as the base <b>10</b>, may combine training subsymbols and data subsymbols into a single OFDM symbol such that a receiving device, such as the client <b>12</b>, may characterize the channel <b>14</b> for the same time period during which the data subsymbols are transmitted.

0048<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 5</figref> is a frequency plot of some of the N subcarriers k (here, subcarriers k=N-a to N-(a-<b>12</b>)) of an embodiment of an OFDM symbol <b>28</b>, which may be transmitted by the base <b>10</b> (<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref>) and received by the client <b>12</b> (<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref>), or vice versa, where the OFDM symbol includes both training and data subsymbols. Although the base <b>10</b> is described as transmitting the OFDM signal in the example below, it is understood that this example would be similar if the client <b>12</b> were transmitting the OFDM signal.

0049The OFDM symbol <b>28</b> includes one or more clusters L_Dof data subcarriers, and one or more clusters L_Pof training subcarriers, which are hereinafter called “pilot” subcarriers. The transmitter of the base <b>10</b> may modulate the pilot subcarriers with respective pilot subsymbols. In an embodiment, the data clusters L_Dand the pilot clusters L_Pare arranged in alternating fashion (i.e., one after the other) such that each data cluster L_Dis separated from adjacent data clusters by at least one pilot cluster L_P, and such that each pilot cluster L_Pis separated from adjacent pilot clusters by at least one data cluster, within the OFDM symbol <b>28</b>. As discussed below in conjunction with <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 9</figref>, because the client <b>12</b> receiver “knows” the pilot subsymbols ahead of time, the client receiver may use the pilot subsymbols to more accurately estimate the channel <b>14</b> as it exists while the data subsymbols are being transmitted as compared to using a training symbol transmitted separately from the data symbol to estimate the channel.

0050In an embodiment, each data cluster L_Dwithin the OFDM symbol <b>28</b> includes a same first number (e.g., sixteen) of data subcarriers, and each pilot cluster L_Pwithin the OFDM symbol includes a same second number (e.g., five or nine) of pilot subcarriers. For example, in the embodiment of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 5</figref>, the illustrated pilot cluster L_Pincludes five pilot subcarriers k=N-(a-<b>3</b>) to N-(a-<b>7</b>), and the other pilot clusters (not shown in <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 5</figref>) of the OFDM symbol <b>28</b> also each include five respective pilot subcarriers. But in another embodiment, a data cluster L_Dmay include a different number of data subcarriers than another data cluster within the same OFDM symbol, and a pilot cluster L_Pmay include a different number of pilot subcarriers than another pilot cluster within the same OFDM symbol. Furthermore, as discussed above, some of the data subcarriers may be unmodulated by a data subsymbol or may have zero amplitude (i.e., zero energy), and, as discussed below in conjunction with <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 7-8</figref>, some of the pilot subcarriers may be unmodulated by a pilot subsymbol or may have zero energy. Moreover, a pilot cluster L_Por a data cluster L_Dmay “wrap around the ends” of the N subcarriers. For example, if there are N=128 subcarriers (k=0 to 127), then a pilot cluster L_Pmay include five pilot subcarriers k=126, k=127, k=0, k=1, and k=2.

0051A designer of an OFDM receiver, such as the receiver of the client <b>12</b> (<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref>), may select the minimum number N_Pof pilot clusters L_Pin the OFDM symbol <b>28</b>, and may select the minimum number L_PNof pilot subcarriers k_Pwithin each pilot cluster, for an intended application of the receiver based on the generally expected conditions of the communication channel <b>14</b> (<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref>) and on a desired data-error rate. For example, for an application where the receiver may be used in a moving automobile, a designer may use the generally expected conditions of a communication channel between a ground-based transmitter and receiver that are moving relative to one another at speeds between approximately 0 and 150 miles per hour—although, non-racing automobiles rarely travel at speeds even approaching 150 miles per hour, if the transmitter and receiver are in respective automobiles that are moving in opposite directions, then the speed of one automobile relative to the other automobile may approach or exceed 150 miles per hour. And to maximize the number of data subcarriers in, and thus the data bandwidth of, the OFDM symbol <b>28</b>, the designer may select the minimum number N_Pof pilot clusters L_P, and the minimum number L_PNof pilot subcarriers k_Pwithin each pilot cluster, that he/she predicts will allow the receiver to estimate the anticipated channel with an accuracy that is sufficient for the receiver to recover data within the desired error rate.

0052<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 6</figref> is a frequency plot of some of the N subcarriers k of an embodiment of the OFDM symbol <b>28</b> of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 5</figref>, where the frequency (x) axis of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 6</figref> has a lower resolution than the frequency (x) axis of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 5</figref>.

0053In an embodiment, the pilot clusters L_Pare separated by a uniform separation value P_sep, which is the distance, measured in the number of subcarriers k, between a pilot subcarrier in a pilot cluster and a corresponding pilot subcarrier in an adjacent pilot cluster. That is, a pilot subcarrier that occupies a relative position within a pilot cluster L_Pis P_sepsubcarriers away from a pilot subcarrier that occupies the same relative position within an adjacent pilot cluster. For example, as shown in <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 6</figref>, the center pilot subcarrier (relative position <b>0</b>) in pilot cluster L_PSis separated from the center pilot subcarrier (also relative position <b>0</b>) in the pilot cluster L_PS+1by P_sepsubcarriers k. Also as shown in <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 6</figref>, the last pilot subcarrier (relative position +2 in this example) in L_PS+1is separated from the last pilot subcarrier (also relative position +2 in this example) in the pilot cluster L_PS+2by P_sepsubcarriers k. And, although not shown in <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 6</figref>, the very first pilot cluster L_P0in the OFDM symbol <b>28</b> is separated from the very last pilot cluster L_P(Np-1)in the OFDM symbol by P_sepwhen this separation is calculated modulo N—calculating such a separation modulo N yields an accurate separation value if a pilot cluster L_Por a data cluster L_D“wraps around the ends” of the N subcarriers as discussed above.

0054<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 7</figref> is a frequency plot of an embodiment of a Frequency-Domain Kronecker Delta (FDKD) pilot cluster L_PFDKD_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_S.

0055Before substantive characteristics of the pilot cluster L_PFDKD_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_Sare discussed, a convention for identifying a pilot cluster, such as the pilot cluster L_PFDKD_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_S, and its pilot subcarriers is discussed. In this convention, P_bidentifies the relative location of the center subcarrier within the pilot cluster, S identifies the relative location of the pilot cluster within an OFDM symbol, W_pis the total number of pilot subcarriers to the left and to the right of the center pilot subcarrier, B_pis the number of interior pilot subcarriers to the left and to the right of the center pilot subcarrier, and W_p-B_pis the number of guard pilot subcarriers G_pat each end of the pilot cluster. For example, if a pilot cluster L_PFDKD_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_Sincludes L_PN=5 total pilot subcarriers and two guard pilot subcarriers, then W_p=(5-1)/2=2, B_p=W_p−G_p=2−1=1, and the pilot cluster L_PFDKD_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_Sincludes pilot subcarriers at the following relative locations: P_b−2, P_b−1, P_b, P_b+1, and P_b+2. And one may convert the relative-location identifiers into absolute-location identifiers by adding S·P_septo each of the relative-location identifiers.

0056So, continuing with the above example, the pilot cluster L_PFDKD_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_Sincludes pilot subcarriers at the following absolute locations: P_b+S·P_sep−2, P_b+S·P_sep−1, P_b+S·P_sep, P_b+S·P_sep+1, and P_b+S·P_sep+2. And, therefore, in this example, the pilot cluster L_PFDKD_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_Sincludes the following pilot subcarriers: k_{Pb+s·Psep−2}, k_{Pb+S·Psep−1}, k_Pb+S·Psep, k_Pb+S·Psep+1, and k_Pb+S·Psep+2. For example, if each pilot cluster L_PFDKD_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_Sin an OFDM symbol includes L_PN=5 pilot subcarriers, P_sep=8, and the first pilot subcarrier of the zero^thpilot cluster L_PFDKD_{<sub2>—</sub2>}₀(S=0) is k₀, then P_b=2, W_p=2, and the sixth pilot cluster L_PFDKD_{<sub2>—</sub2>}₆(S=6 and counting in a direction from the lowest to the highest subcarrier frequency) includes the following pilot subcarriers: k₄₈, k₄₉, k₅₀, k₅₁, and k₅₂.

0057Still referring to <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 7</figref>, in an embodiment, the center subcarrier k_Pb+S·Psep(solid line in <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 7</figref>) of an FDKD pilot cluster L_PFDKD_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_Sis modulated with a non-zero pilot subsymbol, and all of the other subcarriers (dashed lines) have zero energy; that is, all of the other subcarriers are effectively modulated with a zero pilot subsymbol equal to 0+j<b>0</b>. Therefore, in a FDKD pilot cluster L_PFDKD_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_S, the only energy transmitted within the pilot cluster L_PFDKD_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_Sis transmitted on the center subcarrier k_Pb+S·Psep; the remaining subcarriers in the pilot cluster are transmitted with approximately zero energy. But for reasons discussed above in conjunction with <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 4</figref>, at the receiver, subcarriers of the pilot cluster L_PFDKD_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_Sother than the center subcarrier may carry significant non-zero energy due to, e.g., Doppler Spread. And, as discussed below in conjunction with <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 9</figref>, the energy carried by the interior pilot subcarriers at the receiver may allow the receiver to generate an estimate of the communication channel as it exists during transmission of an OFDM symbol, where the estimate takes into account ICI caused by Doppler Spread. The guard pilot subcarriers are included to provide a guard band that may reduce to negligible levels the amount of energy from data subcarriers that “spills over” into the center and interior pilot subcarriers, and vice-versa. One may select the total number L_PNof pilot subcarriers and the number G_Pof guard pilot subcarriers in a pilot cluster L_Pfor a particular application based on the expected Doppler Spread. Typically, the larger the expected Doppler Spread, the larger the total number L_PNof pilot subcarriers and the larger the number G_pof guard pilot subcarriers, and the smaller the expected Doppler Spread, the smaller the total number L_PNof pilot subcarriers and the smaller the number G_pof guard pilot subcarriers (G_pmay even equal zero).

0058<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 8</figref> is a frequency plot of an embodiment of an All-Pilot Pilot Cluster (APPC) L_PAPPC_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_S. Unlike the FDKD pilot cluster L_PFDKD_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_Sof <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 7</figref> in which only the center subcarrier k_Pb+s·Psepis modulated with a non-zero pilot subsymbol, in an APPC pilot cluster L_PAPPC_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_S, all of the pilot subcarriers (solid lines) k_{Pb+S·Psep−Wp}, −k_{Pb+S·Psep+Wp}are modulated with a respective non-zero pilot subsymbol. That is, non-zero energy is transmitted on all of the pilot subcarriers k_{Pb+S·Psep−Wp}−k_{Pb+S·Psep+Wp}within an APPC pilot cluster. Furthermore, the pilot subcarriers k_{Pb+S·Psep−Wp}-k_{Pb+S·Psep+Wp}of an APPC pilot cluster may each be modulated with the same, or with different, pilot subsymbols. And differences between the transmitted pilot subsymbols (which are known ahead of time by the receiver) and the respective received pilot subsymbols may allow the receiver to generate an estimate of the communication channel as it exists during transmission of an OFDM symbol, where the estimate takes into account ICI caused by Doppler Spread.

0059<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 9</figref> is a diagram of an embodiment of a receiver <b>30</b> for a mobile OFDM device such as the base <b>10</b> or client <b>12</b> of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref>.

0060The receiver <b>30</b> includes a receive antenna <b>32</b>, a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) unit <b>34</b>, a channel estimator <b>36</b>, a data-recovery unit <b>38</b>, and a data-decoding unit <b>40</b>. The FFT unit <b>34</b>, channel estimator <b>36</b>, data-recovery unit <b>38</b>, and data-decoding unit <b>40</b> may each be implemented in software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware. For example, one or more of the FFT unit <b>34</b>, the channel estimator <b>36</b>, the data-recovery unit <b>38</b>, and the decoder <b>40</b> may be implemented on an integrated circuit (IC), and other components, such as a transmitter, may also be implemented on the same IC, either on a same or different IC die. And this IC may be combined with one or more other ICs (not shown in <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 9</figref>) to form a system such as the base <b>10</b> or client <b>12</b> of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref>. Or, one or more of these components may be implemented by a software-executing controller such as a processor.

0061The receive antenna <b>32</b> may receive an OFDM signal (i.e., a signal that carries one or more OFDM symbols) from a transmitter, such as the transmitter of the base <b>10</b> or client <b>12</b> of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref>, where at least some of the subcarriers may experience Doppler Spread. The antenna <b>32</b> may also function to transmit an OFDM signal generated by a transmitter (not shown in <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 9</figref>) of the OFDM device that incorporates the receiver <b>30</b>. That is, the antenna <b>32</b> may function to both receive and transmit OFDM signals.

0062The FFT unit <b>34</b> conventionally converts a received OFDM signal from a time-domain waveform into an N×1 column vector y of complex frequency-domain coefficients (e.g., one complex coefficient for each subcarrier).

0063The channel estimator <b>36</b> estimates the response of the communication channel (e.g., the channel <b>14</b> of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref>) from the coefficients of the vector y corresponding to the pilot subcarriers, which, as discussed above in conjunction with <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 5-8</figref>, are the subcarriers that compose the training portion of the received OFDM symbol. From these pilot-subcarrier coefficients, the estimator <b>36</b> generates an N×N channel-estimation matrix Ĥ of complex frequency coefficients that collectively approximate the effective frequency response H of the communication channel—the effective frequency response may take into account the effect of, e.g., channel conditions such as temperature and humidity, the existence of multiple transmission paths, and the Doppler Spread, at each of the subcarrier frequencies f_k. Because, as discussed above, the Doppler Spread may cause energy from one subcarrier to spill over into the frequency slot of another subcarrier at the receiver <b>30</b>, the matrix Ĥ may not be a diagonal matrix—a matrix is diagonal if all of its elements are zero except for the elements that lie along the main diagonal, which extends from the top left corner of the matrix to the bottom right corner. Embodiments of the channel estimator <b>36</b>, and embodiments of techniques for generating the channel-estimation matrix Ĥ, are discussed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/284,879, filed Oct. 29, 2011, Ser. No. 13/284,890 filed Oct. 29, 2011, Ser. No. 13/284,894 filed Oct. 29, 2011, and Ser. No. 13/284,898 filed Oct. 29, 2011, which are incorporated by reference.

0064The data-recovery unit <b>38</b> recovers the data carried by the OFDM signal as transmitted by generating an N×1 column vector {circumflex over (x)}, which is an estimation of the OFDM data symbol x carried by the transmitted OFDM signal. That is, {circumflex over (x)} includes complex coefficients (one for at least each data subcarrier) that are estimates of the complex coefficients with which the transmitter modulated the transmitted data subcarriers. The unit <b>38</b> may generally recover {circumflex over (x)} according to the following equations: <br /><i>y=Ĥ{circumflex over (x)}+n</i>  (1)<br /><i>Ĥ</i>⁻¹(<i>y</i>)=<i>Ĥ</i>⁻¹<i>Ĥ{circumflex over (x)}+Ĥ</i>⁻¹<i>n={circumflex over (x)}+Ĥ</i>⁻¹<i>n</i>  (2)<br /> where n is an N×1 column vector of Additive-White-Gaussian-Noise (AWGN) complex coefficients at each of the subcarrier frequencies. Because, as discussed above, some of the y coefficients are for pilot subcarriers that are used only for channel-estimation purposes, the elements of Ĥ, {circumflex over (x)}, y, and n that correspond to the N_PL_PNpilot subcarriers (where N_Pis the number of pilot clusters L_Pin an OFDM symbol and L_PNis the number of pilot subcarriers per pilot cluster L_P) may be discarded prior to calculating Ĥ⁻¹and solving equation (2) so as to reduce the complexity, and increase the speed, of the calculation of {circumflex over (x)}. Examples of a data-recovery unit and data-recovery techniques that may be used as and by the data-recovery unit <b>38</b> are disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 12/579,935 and 12/579,969, which were filed on Oct. 15, 2009 and which are incorporated by reference. And conventional data-recovery units and techniques that may be respectively used as and by the data-recovery unit <b>38</b> also exist. Furthermore, additional embodiments of data-recovery units and techniques are discussed below in conjunction with <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 19</figref>, <b>22</b>, and <b>23</b>.

0065The data-decoding unit <b>40</b> effectively uses the {circumflex over (x)} coefficients that correspond to the data subcarriers of the OFDM symbol to demodulate the corresponding data subsymbols, and to thus recover the data represented by the data subsymbols. For example, if the transmitter modulated a data subcarrier by mapping it to a respective QPSK constellation element, then the data decoder <b>40</b> QPSK demodulates the data subcarrier to recover the same constellation element, which represents the bits of data carried by the modulated data subcarrier.

0066Referring back to <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 1 and 3</figref>, multiple base transmitter-receivers <b>10</b> may communicate with respective client transmitter-receivers <b>12</b> over a same channel space using one of a number of conventional techniques to prevent a first signal transmitted by a first transmitter-receiver <b>10</b> or <b>12</b> from catastrophically interfering with a second signal transmitted by a second transmitter-receiver—a first signal “catastrophically” interferes with a second signal if the first signal renders the intended receiver of the second signal unable to recover data or other necessary information from the second signal.

0067For example, one such conventional technique is time-division multiplexing, where only one base <b>10</b> or client <b>12</b> can transmit a signal at any time; that is, time-division multiplexing prevents catastrophic interference by preventing multiple bases or clients from simultaneously transmitting signals. But time-division multiplexing allows signals from multiple bases <b>10</b> or clients <b>12</b> to occupy a same portion of the frequency spectrum (e.g., use one or more of the same subcarrier frequencies in the case of OFDM signals).

0068Another such conventional technique is spread spectrum, where each base <b>10</b> or client <b>12</b> transmits a respective signal over a same portion of the frequency spectrum using a different scrambling code to prevent catastrophic interference. The scrambling codes effectively cause each transmitted signal to include different frequencies while propagating through the channel space even though each signal may use the same subcarrier frequencies before the scrambling code is applied to the signal. But, unlike time-division multiplexing, spread spectrum allows simultaneous transmitting of signals.

0069Referring to <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 10-23</figref>, described is an embodiment of a communication technique that prevents catastrophic interference but that also allows simultaneous transmission of multiple signals on the same frequencies in the same channel space without the use of scrambling codes. Therefore, such a technique may provide a channel space with an effective device bandwidth that is greater than the effective device bandwidth that either time-divisional multiplexing or spread spectrum can provide. Here, “device bandwidth” is a measure of the number of devices that can share a channel space.

0070<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref> is a diagram of a transmit-receive system <b>40</b>, which includes a shared channel space <b>42</b>, t transmitters <b>44</b>₀-<b>44</b>_t-1, and t receivers <b>46</b>₀-<b>46</b>_t-1, which are configured to operate according to an embodiment of the above-described simultaneous-transmission technique, and where the receivers and transmitters may be moving relative to each other. For purposes of explanation, the transmitters <b>44</b> are described as transmitting signals, and the receivers <b>46</b> are described as receiving signals. But it is understood that the transmitters <b>44</b> and receivers <b>46</b> may be part of respective transmitter-receivers, and that in such an embodiment, a similar description may apply if the receivers are transmitting signals and the transmitters are receiving the signals. For example, the transmitters <b>44</b> may belong to respective smart phones, and the receivers <b>46</b> may be respective cell towers or wireless access points.

0071Each transmitter <b>44</b> is coupled to a respective antenna <b>48</b>, and each receiver <b>46</b> is coupled to a respective antenna <b>50</b>. Alternatively, each antenna <b>48</b> may be considered to be a component of the respective transmitter <b>44</b>, and each antenna <b>50</b> may be considered to be a component of the respective receiver <b>46</b>.

0072In an embodiment, each receiver <b>46</b> is configured to recover data from only a signal transmitted by a corresponding one of the transmitters <b>44</b>. For example, the receiver <b>46</b>₀may be configured to recover data from only a signal transmitted by the transmitter <b>44</b>₀, the receiver <b>46</b>₁may be configured to recover data from only a signal transmitted by the transmitter <b>44</b>₁, and the receiver <b>46</b>_t-1may be configured to recover data from only a signal transmitted by the transmitter <b>44</b>_t-1.

0073Furthermore, the transmitters <b>44</b> have a hierarchy in which the transmitter <b>44</b>₀has the highest priority, the transmitter <b>44</b>₁has the next highest priority, and the transmitter <b>44</b>_t-1has the lowest priority.

0074<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 11A</figref> is a plot of an embodiment of eight OFDM symbols <b>52</b>₀-<b>52</b>₇carried by an OFDM signal <b>53</b>, which is transmitted by a transmitter <b>44</b> (<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref>) having a higher priority, and <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 11B</figref> is a plot of an embodiment of eight OFDM symbols <b>54</b>₀-<b>54</b>₇carried by an OFDM signal <b>55</b>, which is transmitted by a transmitter <b>44</b> having a lower priority. The OFDM symbols <b>52</b> and <b>54</b> each include subcarriers at the same subcarrier frequencies, and include data clusters L_Dand pilot clusters L_Pof the same respective sizes and at the same respective subcarrier locations within the OFDM symbols. For example, if the OFDM symbols <b>52</b>₀-<b>52</b>₇each include N=128 subcarriers k₀-k₁₂₇at respective frequencies f₀-f₁₂₇, and each include four pilot clusters having five pilot subcarriers each, starting at subcarrier k₁₂, and separated by P_SEP=27 modulo<N>, then the OFDM symbols <b>54</b>₀-<b>54</b>₇also each include N=128 subcarriers k₀-k₁₂₇at the frequencies f₀-f₁₂₇, and also each include four pilot clusters having five pilot subcarriers each, starting at subcarrier k₁₂, and separated by P_SEP=27 modulo<N>.

0075Referring to <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 11A</figref>, during first and second simultaneous-transmission periods <b>56</b> and <b>58</b>, the OFDM symbols <b>52</b>₀-<b>52</b>₂and <b>52</b>₆-<b>52</b>₇may be conventional, with respective data symbols modulating the data subcarriers in the data clusters L_D, and with respective pilot symbols modulating the pilot subcarriers in the pilot clusters L_P—here, a “data symbol” is the collection of all data subsymbols that modulate the respective data subcarriers in an OFDM signal, and a “pilot symbol” is the collection of all pilot subsymbols that modulate the respective pilot subcarriers in an OFDM signal.

0076But during a mono-transmission period <b>60</b>, the OFDM symbols <b>52</b>₃-<b>52</b>₅are not transmitted, i.e., have zero energy at all data and pilot subcarriers.

0077Referring to <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 11B</figref>, during the mono-transmission period <b>60</b>, the OFDM symbols <b>54</b>₃-<b>54</b>₅may be conventional, with respective data symbols modulating the data subcarriers in the data clusters L_D, and with respective pilot symbols modulating the pilot subcarriers in the pilot clusters L_P.

0078But during the first and second simultaneous-transmission periods <b>56</b> and <b>58</b>, the data subcarriers of the OFDM symbols <b>54</b>₀-<b>54</b>₂and <b>54</b>₆-<b>54</b>₇have zero energy (i.e., are effectively modulated by a data symbol equal to zero) so as not to interfere with the data subcarriers of the OFDM symbols <b>52</b>₀-<b>52</b>₂and <b>52</b>₆-<b>52</b>₇of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 11A</figref>; and the pilot clusters L_Pof each of the OFDM symbols <b>54</b>₀-<b>54</b>₂and <b>54</b>₆-<b>54</b>₇are modulated by a respective pilot symbol and by a respective one or more data symbols. As discussed in more detail in conjunction with <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 16</figref>, the pilot and data symbols that modulate the pilot clusters L_Pof the OFDM symbols <b>54</b>₀-<b>54</b>₂and <b>54</b>₆-<b>54</b>₇are designed such that the modulated pilot subcarriers of the OFDM signal <b>55</b> do not catastrophically interfere with the modulated pilot and data subcarriers of the OFDM signal <b>53</b>. That is, even if a receiver <b>46</b> (<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref>) for which the OFDM signal <b>53</b> is intended also simultaneously receives the OFDM signal <b>55</b>, then this receiver can still recover the data carried by the OFDM symbols <b>52</b>₀-<b>52</b>₂and <b>52</b>₆-<b>52</b>₇. Similarly, if a receiver <b>46</b> for which the OFDM signal <b>55</b> is intended also simultaneously receives the OFDM signal <b>53</b>, then this receiver can still recover the data carried by the OFDM symbols <b>54</b>₀-<b>54</b>₂and <b>54</b>₆-<b>54</b>₇.

0079Referring to <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 10-11B</figref>, the operations of the transmitters <b>44</b>₀and <b>44</b>₁and of the receivers <b>46</b>₀and <b>46</b>₁are described according to an embodiment. In this example, the transmitter <b>44</b>₀is the higher-priority transmitter, and is called the “primary transmitter,” and the transmitter <b>44</b>₁is the lower-priority transmitter, and is called the “secondary transmitter.” Furthermore, the “primary” OFDM signal <b>53</b> transmitted by the primary transmitter <b>44</b>₀is intended for only the receiver <b>46</b>₀, which is, therefore, called the “primary receiver;” similarly, the “secondary” OFDM signal transmitted by the secondary transmitter <b>44</b>₁is intended for only the receiver <b>46</b>₁, which is, therefore, called the “secondary receiver.”

0080First, the operations of the primary and secondary transmitters <b>44</b>₀and <b>44</b>₁are described.

0081During the first simultaneous-transmission period <b>56</b>, the primary transmitter <b>44</b>₀generates the primary OFDM symbols <b>52</b>₀-<b>52</b>₂by modulating the data clusters L_Dof each of these primary OFDM symbols with a respective data symbol, and by modulating the pilot clusters L_Pof each of these primary OFDM symbols with a same pilot symbol.

0082Also during the first simultaneous-transmission period <b>56</b>, the secondary transmitter <b>44</b>₁detects that the primary transmitter <b>44</b>₀is transmitting the primary OFDM signal <b>53</b>, and, in response to this detection, generates the secondary OFDM symbols <b>54</b>₀-<b>54</b>₂by modulating the pilot clusters L_Pof each of these secondary OFDM symbols with a same pilot symbol and with a respective one or more data symbols, and by causing the data clusters L_Dof each of these secondary OFDM symbols to have zero energy.

0083The primary and secondary pilot symbols respectively generated by the primary and secondary transmitters <b>44</b>₀and <b>44</b>₁, and the secondary data symbols generated by the secondary transmitter, during the simultaneous-transmission period <b>56</b> are designed to prevent catastrophic interference between the modulated primary pilot subcarriers of the OFDM symbols <b>52</b>₀-<b>52</b>₂and the modulated secondary pilot subcarriers of the OFDM symbols <b>54</b>₀-<b>54</b>₂.

0084In an embodiment, such prevention of catastrophic interference may be realized by designing the primary and secondary pilot symbols respectively generated by the primary and secondary transmitters <b>44</b>₀and <b>44</b>₁, and the secondary data symbols generated by the secondary transmitter, to be orthogonal to one another. That is, the primary pilot symbols generated by the primary transmitter <b>44</b>₀are designed to be orthogonal to the secondary pilot symbols and secondary data symbols generated by the secondary transmitter <b>44</b>₁, the secondary pilot symbols generated by the secondary transmitter are designed to be orthogonal to the primary pilot symbols generated by the primary transmitter and to the secondary data symbols generated by the secondary transmitter, and the secondary data symbols generated by the secondary transmitter are designed to be orthogonal to the primary and secondary pilot symbols respectively generated by the primary and secondary transmitters.

0085Furthermore, the secondary transmitter <b>44</b>₁causes the data clusters L_Dof the secondary OFDM symbols <b>54</b>₀-<b>54</b>₂to have zero energy during the first simultaneous-transmission period <b>56</b> to prevent catastrophic interference between the primary data subcarriers transmitted by the primary transmitter <b>44</b>₀and the secondary data subcarriers transmitted by the secondary transmitter.

0086Still referring to <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 10-11B</figref>, during the mono-transmission period <b>60</b>, the primary transmitter <b>44</b>₀causes the primary data and pilot subcarriers of the OFDM symbols <b>52</b>₃-<b>52</b>₅to have zero energy, which is akin to saying that the primary transmitter transmits no OFDM signal <b>53</b> (primary or otherwise) during the mono-transmission period.

0087Also during the mono-transmission period <b>60</b>, the secondary transmitter <b>44</b>₁detects that the primary transmitter <b>44</b>₀is not transmitting the primary OFDM signal <b>53</b>.

0088In response to detecting no primary OFDM signal <b>53</b> from the primary transmitter <b>44</b>₀, the secondary transmitter <b>44</b>₁generates the secondary OFDM symbols <b>54</b>₃-<b>54</b>₅in a conventional manner by modulating the data clusters L_Dof each of these secondary OFDM symbols with a respective data symbol, and by modulating the pilot clusters L_Pof each of these secondary OFDM symbols with a same pilot symbol, which may be the same pilot symbol used to modulate the secondary OFDM symbols <b>54</b>₀-<b>54</b>₂during the first simultaneous-transmission period <b>56</b>.

0089During the second simultaneous-transmission period <b>58</b>, the primary transmitter <b>44</b>₀generates the primary OFDM symbols <b>52</b>₆-<b>52</b>₇in a manner that is similar to the above-described manner in which the primary transmitter generates the primary OFDM symbols <b>52</b>₀-<b>52</b>₂during the first simultaneous-transmission period <b>56</b>.

0090Further during the second simultaneous-transmission period <b>58</b>, the secondary transmitter <b>44</b>₁generates the secondary OFDM symbols <b>54</b>₆-<b>54</b>₇in a manner that is similar to the above-described manner in which the secondary transmitter generates the secondary OFDM symbols <b>54</b>₀-<b>54</b>₂during the first simultaneous-transmission period <b>56</b>.

0091Consequently, there is no catastrophic interference between the primary and secondary OFDM signals <b>53</b> and <b>55</b> during the second simultaneous-transmission period <b>58</b>.

0092Still referring to <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 10-11B</figref>, the operations of the primary and secondary receivers <b>46</b>₀and <b>46</b>₁are described according to an embodiment.

0093Because the primary and secondary transmitters <b>44</b>₀and <b>44</b>₁transmit the primary and secondary OFDM signals <b>53</b> and <b>55</b> in the same channel space <b>42</b>, the primary receiver <b>46</b>₀may simultaneously receive both the primary and secondary OFDM signals during the first and second simultaneous transmission periods <b>56</b> and <b>58</b>; similarly, the secondary receiver <b>46</b>₁may simultaneously receive both the primary and secondary OFDM signals during the first and second simultaneous-transmission periods.

0094But even if the primary receiver <b>46</b>₀simultaneously receives both of the primary and secondary OFDM signals <b>53</b> and <b>55</b> during the first and second simultaneous-transmission periods <b>56</b> and <b>58</b>, the primary receiver still is able to recover the data symbols from the primary OFDM symbols <b>52</b>₀-<b>52</b>₂and <b>52</b>₆-<b>52</b>₇because, as discussed above, the pilot symbols of these primary OFDM symbols, and the pilot and data symbols of the secondary OFDM symbols <b>54</b>₀-<b>54</b>₂and <b>54</b>₆-<b>54</b>₇, are designed so as to prevent catastrophic interference between the pilot subcarriers of these primary and secondary OFDM symbols. An example of how the primary receiver <b>46</b>₀may recover the data symbols from the primary OFDM symbols <b>52</b>₀-<b>52</b>₂and <b>52</b>₆-<b>52</b>₇is discussed below in conjunction with <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 17-18</figref> and <b>21</b>-<b>22</b>.

0095For similar reasons, even if the secondary receiver <b>46</b>₁simultaneously receives both of the primary and secondary OFDM signals <b>53</b> and <b>55</b> during the simultaneous-transmission periods <b>56</b> and <b>58</b>, the secondary receiver still is able to recover the data symbols from the secondary OFDM symbols <b>54</b>₀-<b>54</b>₂and <b>54</b>₆-<b>54</b>₇. An example of how the secondary receiver <b>46</b>₁may recover the data symbols from the secondary OFDM symbols <b>54</b>₀-<b>54</b>₂and <b>54</b>₆-<b>54</b>₇is discussed below in conjunction with <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 19-20</figref> and <b>22</b>-<b>23</b>.

0096Still referring to <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 10-11B</figref>, the above example may be extended to more than two transmitters <b>44</b> transmitting to a respective more than two receivers <b>46</b> during the simultaneous-transmitting periods <b>56</b> and <b>58</b>.

0097In such an extended example, the transmitter with the highest priority would be the primary transmitter, and would transmit a primary OFDM signal like the primary OFDM signal <b>53</b>, and the remaining transmitters would be secondary transmitters, and would transmit respective secondary OFDM signals like the secondary OFDM signal <b>55</b>. And to prevent these primary and secondary OFDM signals from catastrophically interfering with one another during simultaneous transmission periods, the primary pilot symbols transmitted by the primary transmitter, the secondary pilot symbols transmitted by the secondary transmitters, and the secondary data symbols transmitted by the secondary transmitters may be orthogonal to one another.

0098And because the primary and secondary OFDM signals would not catastrophically interfere with one another, the primary receiver can recover data from the primary OFDM signal, and the secondary receivers can recover data from the respective secondary OFDM signals, even if one or more of these receivers simultaneously receives more than one of the OFDM signals over the shared channel space <b>42</b>.

0099Furthermore, at least some of the transmitters <b>44</b> may operate as both primary and secondary transmitters, and at least some of the receivers <b>46</b> may operate as both primary and secondary receivers. For example, the transmitter <b>44</b>₁and the receiver <b>46</b>₁may respectively operate as a primary transmitter and a primary receiver while the transmitter <b>44</b>₀is inactive, and may respectively operate as a secondary transmitter and a secondary receiver while the transmitter <b>44</b>₀is active.

0100Still referring to <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 10-11B</figref>, alternate embodiments of the transmitters <b>44</b>, receivers <b>46</b>, and primary and secondary OFDM signals <b>53</b> and <b>55</b> are contemplated. For example, the primary and secondary transmitters may prevent catastrophic interference between the primary and secondary OFDM signals <b>53</b> and <b>55</b> during the simultaneous-transmission periods <b>56</b> and <b>58</b> using a technique other than orthogonal pilot and data symbols. Furthermore, each transmitter <b>44</b> and each receiver <b>46</b> may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software.

0101<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 12</figref> is a diagram of a transmit-receive system <b>70</b>, which includes the shared channel space <b>42</b>, the t transmitters <b>44</b>₀-<b>44</b>_t-1, and a receiver <b>46</b>, where the receiver and one or more of the transmitters may be moving relative to one another. A difference between the system <b>70</b> and the transmit-receive system <b>40</b> of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref> is that the system <b>70</b> includes only the single receiver <b>46</b>, which is intended to receive the primary and secondary OFDM signals (such as the OFDM signals <b>53</b> and <b>55</b> of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 11A-11B</figref>) that are transmitted by all of the transmitters <b>44</b>₀-<b>44</b>_t-1. Therefore, the receiver <b>46</b> may operate such as described above in conjunction with <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 10-11B</figref> and below in conjunction with <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 17-23</figref> to recover data from the primary and secondary OFDM signals transmitted by the transmitters <b>44</b> during both simultaneous- and mono-transmission periods (such as the simultaneous-transmission periods <b>56</b> and <b>58</b> and the mono-transmission period <b>60</b> of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 11A-11B</figref>). Furthermore, it is understood that the transmitters <b>44</b> and the receiver <b>46</b> may be part of respective transmitter-receivers, and that in such an embodiment, the transmitter-receiver to which the receiver <b>46</b> belongs may transmit primary or secondary OFDM signals to one or more of the transmitter-receivers that respectively include the transmitters <b>44</b>.

0102Alternate embodiments of the transmit-receive system <b>70</b> are contemplated. For example, the system <b>70</b> may include more than one, but fewer than t, receivers <b>46</b>, where some of the receivers may be intended to receive OFDM signals from all of the transmitters <b>44</b>, and others of the receivers may be intended to receive OFDM signals from one or more, but fewer than all, of the transmitters <b>44</b>.

0103<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 13</figref> is a diagram of an embodiment of a primary transmitter <b>44</b>, such as the highest-priority transmitter <b>44</b>₀of FIG. or of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 12</figref>. The primary transmitter <b>44</b> may generate a primary OFDM signal, such as the primary OFDM signal <b>53</b> of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 11A</figref>, and may modulate the pilot subcarriers of a primary OFDM symbol (such as the symbol <b>52</b>₀of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 11A</figref>) with a primary pilot symbol (hereinafter called a “pilot-symbol pattern” or a “pilot-symbol-pattern matrix”) P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽ⁱ⁾, which prevents catastrophic interference between the primary OFDM signal and one or more secondary OFDM signals. In an embodiment, the primary pilot-symbol pattern P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽ⁱ⁾is orthogonal to the pilot-symbol patterns and the data-symbol patterns that modulate the pilot subcarriers of the secondary OFDM signal(s). All pilot-symbol patterns discussed hereinafter are assumed to be APPC pilot clusters (<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 8</figref>) unless otherwise noted.

0104The transmitter <b>44</b> includes a pilot generator <b>80</b>, a data generator <b>82</b>, a pilot-subcarrier-coefficient generator <b>84</b>, a data-subcarrier-coefficient generator <b>86</b>, an Inverse Fourier Transform (IFFT) unit <b>88</b>, a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) <b>90</b>, a modulator and driver <b>92</b>, and the antenna <b>48</b>.

0105The pilot generator <b>80</b> may generate pilot subsymbols from pilot information that may include the pilot-symbol pattern P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽ⁱ⁾, which is in the form of a matrix as discussed further below.

0106Similarly, the data generator <b>82</b> may generate data subsymbols from data information.

0107The pilot-subcarrier-coefficient generator <b>84</b> generates, from each pilot subsymbol, a respective complex frequency-domain coefficient for mapping to the respective pilot subcarrier.

0108Similarly, the data-subcarrier-coefficient generator <b>86</b> generates, from each data subsymbol, a respective complex frequency-domain coefficient for mapping to the respective data subcarrier.

0109The IFFT unit <b>88</b> transforms the pilot-subcarrier coefficients and data-subcarrier coefficients into a digital time-domain waveform.

0110The DAC <b>90</b> converts the digital time-domain waveform into an analog time-domain waveform.

0111The modulator and driver <b>92</b> modulates a carrier signal (e.g., a 5.4 GHz carrier) with the analog waveform, and drives the antenna with the modulated carrier signal.

0112And the antenna <b>48</b> transmits the modulated carrier signal for reception by a receiver such as a primary receiver <b>46</b> of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref>. The antenna <b>48</b> may also function as a receive antenna if the transmitter <b>44</b> is part of a transmitter-receiver device.

0113In an embodiment, the pilot generator <b>80</b> may generate a primary pilot-symbol pattern according to a respective pilot-symbol-pattern matrix P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽ⁱ⁾such that each column of P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽ⁱ⁾is orthogonal to every column of each of the secondary pilot-symbol-pattern matrices P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾and secondary data-symbol-pattern matrices P_data_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾, which are generated by the respective secondary transmitters (described below in conjunction with <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 14</figref>). Such orthogonality is present when the following equation is true: <br /><i>P</i>^(m)H<i>P</i>⁽ⁿ⁾=0 for 0<i>≦m≦j−</i>1,0<i>≦n≦j−</i>1,  (3)

0114where j is the combined number of primary pilot symbols, secondary pilot symbols, and data symbols, m≠n, and P^(m)and P⁽ⁿ⁾represent the matrices P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽ⁱ⁾, P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾, and P_data_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾depending on the values of m and n.

0115An example of such an orthogonal primary pilot-symbol-pattern matrix is given by the following equation: <br /><i>P</i>_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽⁰⁾<i>=[f</i>^(0Z)<i>; f</i>^(0Z)<i>; . . . ; f</i>^(0Z)]  (4)<br /> where “0” is the index number (i=0) for the primary pilot-symbol-pattern matrix, f^(0Z)is a column vector, Z is the number of paths L in each channel between a respective transmitter-receiver pair (in an embodiment it is assumed that each channel always has the same number Z of paths L), and P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽⁰⁾has N_Prows (each row represents a pilot cluster) and L_PN=2w_p+1 identical columns (i.e., f^(0Z)Hf^(0Z)=N_P) so as to have a form given by the following equation:

0116<maths id="MATH-US-00001" num="00001"><math overflow="scroll"><mtable><mtr><mtd><mrow><msubsup><mi>P</mi><mrow><mi>pilot</mi><mo>⁢</mo><mi>_</mi><mo>⁢</mo><mi>primary</mi></mrow><mrow><mo>(</mo><mn>0</mn><mo>)</mo></mrow></msubsup><mo>=</mo><mrow><mo>[</mo><mtable><mtr><mtd><msubsup><mi>p</mi><mrow><mrow><mi>cluster</mi><mo>⁢</mo><mi>_</mi></mrow><mo>⁢</mo><mrow><mo>(</mo><mn>0</mn><mo>)</mo></mrow></mrow><mrow><mo>(</mo><mn>0</mn><mo>)</mo></mrow></msubsup></mtd></mtr><mtr><mtd><mi>⋮</mi></mtd></mtr><mtr><mtd><msubsup><mi>p</mi><mrow><mrow><mi>cluster</mi><mo>⁢</mo><mi>_</mi></mrow><mo>⁢</mo><mrow><mo>(</mo><mrow><msub><mi>N</mi><mi>p</mi></msub><mo>-</mo><mn>1</mn></mrow><mo>)</mo></mrow></mrow><mrow><mo>(</mo><mn>0</mn><mo>)</mo></mrow></msubsup></mtd></mtr></mtable><mo>]</mo></mrow></mrow></mtd><mtd><mrow><mo>(</mo><mn>5</mn><mo>)</mo></mrow></mtd></mtr></mtable></math></maths><br /> where, the first row p_cluster_{<sub2>—</sub2>}₍₀₎⁽⁰⁾of p_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽⁰⁾includes the pilot subsymbols that compose the 0^thpilot cluster L_Ptransmitted by the antenna <b>48</b>, the second row p_cluster_{<sub2>—</sub2>}₍₁₎⁽⁰⁾of P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽⁰⁾includes the pilot subsymbols that compose the 1^stpilot cluster L_Ptransmitted from the antenna, and the (N_P−1)^throw p_cluster_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_(N_{<sub2>P</sub2>}₋₁₎⁽⁰⁾of P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽⁰⁾includes the pilot subsymbols that compose the (N_P−1)^thpilot cluster L_Ptransmitted from the antenna. In an embodiment, the rows of P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽⁰⁾may be shifted up or down as long as they remain in a sequence <b>0</b>-N_P−1, and the same shift is applied to all of the matrices P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾and P_data_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾for 1≦i≦j−1, where j is the combined number of the primary pilot symbol, secondary pilot symbols, and data pilot symbols.

0117An example of the N_P×1 column vector f^(iZ)is given by the following equation: <br /><i>f</i>^(iZ)=[1<i>e</i>^−j2πΔf^{<sub2>p</sub2>}^iZ<i>e</i>^−j2π2Δf^{<sub2>p</sub2>}^iZ<i>e</i>^−j2π3Δf^{<sub2>p</sub2>}^iZ<i>. . . e</i>^−j2π(N^{<sub2>p</sub2>}^−1)Δf^{<sub2>p</sub2>}^iZ]^T  (6)<br /> where

0118<maths id="MATH-US-00002" num="00002"><math overflow="scroll"><mrow><mrow><mi>Δ</mi><mo>⁢</mo><mstyle><mspace width="0.3em" height="0.3ex" /></mstyle><mo>⁢</mo><msub><mi>f</mi><mi>p</mi></msub></mrow><mo>=</mo><mrow><mfrac><mn>1</mn><msub><mi>N</mi><mi>p</mi></msub></mfrac><mo>.</mo></mrow></mrow></math></maths><br /> Therefore, <br /><i>f</i>^(0Z)=[1 1 1 1 . . . 1]^T  (7)

0119In another embodiment, the pilot generator <b>80</b> may generate a respective primary pilot-symbol pattern according to a respective primary pilot-symbol-pattern matrix P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽ⁱ⁾such that not only is each column of P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽ⁱ⁾orthogonal to every column of each of the secondary pilot-symbol-pattern matrices P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾and secondary data-symbol-pattern matrices P_data_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾, but each column of P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽ⁱ⁾is also orthogonal to every other column of the same matrix P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽ⁱ⁾. Such “dual” orthogonality is present when the following equations are true: <br /><i>P</i>^(m)H<i>P</i>⁽ⁿ⁾=0 for 0<i>≦m≦j−</i>1, 0<i>≦n≦j−</i>1, and <i>m≠n</i>, and  (8)<br /><i>f</i>^(d)H<i>f</i>^(v)=0 for 0<i>≦d≦L</i>_PN−1, 0<i>≦v≦L</i>_PN−1, and <i>d≠v</i>  (9)<br /> where f^(u)are the L_PNcolumn vectors that compose P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽ⁱ⁾.

0120An example of such pilot-symbol- and data-symbol-pattern matrices with dual orthogonality is given by the following equation: <br /><i>P</i>⁽ⁱ⁾<i>[f</i>^(iL^{<sub2>PN</sub2>}^Z+0Z)<i>; f</i>^(iL^{<sub2>PN</sub2>}^Z+1Z)<i>; f</i>^(iL^{<sub2>PN</sub2>}^Z+2Z)<i>; . . . ; f</i>^(iL^{<sub2>PN</sub2>}^Z+(L^{<sub2>PN</sub2>}^−1)Z] for 0<i>≦i≦j−</i>1  (10)<br /> where i is the pattern index, Z is the number of paths L in each channel between a respective transmitter-receiver pair (in an embodiment it is assumed that each channel always has the same number Z of paths L), and P⁽ⁱ⁾has N_Prows (each row represents a pilot cluster) and L_PN=2w_p+1 orthogonal columns such that f^(iL^{<sub2>PN</sub2>}_Z+d)Hf^(iL^{<sub2>PN</sub2>}^Z+v)=0 for d, vε{<b>0</b>, Z, . . . , ((L_PN−1)Z)} and d≠v.

0121An example of an N_p×1 column vector f^(iL^{<sub2>PN</sub2>}^Z+u)for uε{<b>0</b>, Z, . . . , ((L_PN−1)Z)} (this means that “u” is a constant selected from the set of L_PNpossible elements <b>0</b>, Z, . . . , (L_PN−1)Z) is given by the following equation: <br /><i>f</i>^(iL^{<sub2>PN</sub2>}^z+u)=[1<i>e</i>^−j2πΔf^{<sub2>p</sub2>}^(iL^{<sub2>PN</sub2>}^Z+u)<i>e</i>^−j2π2Δf^{<sub2>p</sub2>}^(iL^{<sub2>PN</sub2>}^Z+u)<i>e</i>^−j2π3Δf^{<sub2>p</sub2>}^(iL^{<sub2>PN</sub2>}^Z+u)<i>. . . e</i>^−j2π(N^{<sub2>p</sub2>}^−1)Δf^{<sub2>p</sub2>}^(iL^{<sub2>PN</sub2>}^Z+u)]^T  (11)<br /> where

0122<maths id="MATH-US-00003" num="00003"><math overflow="scroll"><mrow><mrow><mi>Δ</mi><mo>⁢</mo><mstyle><mspace width="0.3em" height="0.3ex" /></mstyle><mo>⁢</mo><msub><mi>f</mi><mi>p</mi></msub></mrow><mo>=</mo><mrow><mfrac><mn>1</mn><msub><mi>N</mi><mi>p</mi></msub></mfrac><mo>.</mo></mrow></mrow></math></maths><br /> Therefore, one may form each vector of the primary pilot-symbol-pattern matrix P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽⁰⁾according to the following equation: <br /><i>f</i>^(0L^{<sub2>PN</sub2>}^Z+u)=[1 <i>e</i>^−j2πΔf^{<sub2>p</sub2>}^(u)<i>e</i>^−j2π2Δf^{<sub2>p</sub2>}^(u)<i>e</i>^−j2π3Δf^{<sub2>p</sub2>}^(u)<i>. . . e</i>^−j2π(N^{<sub2>p</sub2>}^−1)Δf^{<sub2>p</sub2>}^(u)]^T  (12)<br /> where i=0 and uε{<b>0</b>, Z, . . . , ((L_PN−1)Z)}. That is, to form the entire matrix P_pilot_{<sub2>—primary</sub2>}⁽⁰⁾, one generates the first column of this matrix from equation (12) with u=0, the second column of this matrix from equation (12) with u=Z, the third column of this matrix from equation (12) with u=2Z, . . . , and the L_PN^thcolumn of this matrix from equation (12) with u=(L_PN−1)Z.

0123It has been found that such dual-orthogonal pilot-symbol-pattern matrices P⁽ⁱ⁾may improve the performance of a receiver's channel estimator as discussed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/284,879, filed Oct. 29, 2011, Ser. No. 13/284,890 filed Oct. 29, 2011, Ser. No. 13/284,894 filed Oct. 29, 2011, and Ser. No. 13/284,898 filed Oct. 29, 2011, which are incorporated by reference.

0124Still referring to <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 13</figref>, alternate embodiments of the primary transmitter <b>44</b> are contemplated. For example, the modulator <b>92</b> may be omitted. Furthermore, the functions performed by any of the components of the transmitter <b>44</b> may be performed in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software, where the software is executed by a controller such as a processor. Moreover, pilot-symbol patterns and pilot-symbol-pattern matrices other than those described are contemplated.

0125<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 14</figref> is a diagram of an embodiment of a secondary transmitter <b>44</b>, such as the second-highest-priority transmitter <b>44</b>₁of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref> or <b>12</b>. The transmitter <b>44</b> may operate as a primary transmitter, and thus may generate a primary OFDM signal such as the primary OFDM signal <b>53</b> of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 11A</figref>, while the transmitter is the highest-priority transmitter currently transmitting a signal, and may operate as a secondary transmitter, and thus may generate a secondary OFDM signal such as the secondary OFDM signal <b>55</b> of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 11B</figref>, while the transmitter is not the highest-priority transmitter currently transmitting a signal. While operating as a primary transmitter, the transmitter <b>44</b> may modulate the pilot subcarriers of the primary OFDM symbol (such as the symbol <b>52</b>₀of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 11A</figref>) with a primary pilot-symbol pattern P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽ⁱ⁾such as discussed above in conjunction with <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 13</figref>; and while operating as a secondary transmitter, the transmitter <b>44</b> may modulate the pilot subcarriers and data subcarriers of the secondary OFDM symbol (such as the symbol <b>54</b>₀of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 11B</figref>) with a secondary pilot-symbol pattern P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}secondary⁽ⁱ⁾and with one or more secondary data-symbol patterns P_data_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾, which are discussed below. As discussed above, modulating the pilot subcarriers with P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽ⁱ⁾while the transmitter <b>44</b> is operating as a primary transmitter, and with P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾and P_data_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾while the transmitter is operating as a secondary transmitter, prevents catastrophic interference between the primary OFDM signal and one or more simultaneously transmitted secondary OFDM signals because, for example, P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽ⁱ⁾, P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾, and P_data_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾are orthogonal to one another.

0126The secondary transmitter <b>44</b> includes a pilot-and-data-generating stage <b>100</b>, a transmission stage <b>102</b>, a higher-priority-transmission detector <b>104</b>, and an antenna <b>48</b>.

0127The pilot-and-data-generating stage <b>100</b> includes a pilot generator <b>106</b>, a data generator <b>108</b>, a pilot-subcarrier-coefficient generator <b>110</b>, a data-subcarrier-coefficient generator <b>112</b>, and a primary-secondary mode switch <b>114</b>.

0128The pilot generator <b>106</b> generates pilot information that may include a primary pilot-symbol pattern P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽ⁱ⁾while the transmitter <b>44</b> is operating as a primary transmitter, and that may include a secondary pilot-symbol pattern P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾while the transmitter is operating as a secondary transmitter; P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽ⁱ⁾and P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾are in the form of matrices as discussed above and below.

0129Similarly, the data generator <b>108</b> generates data subsymbols from data information, and the data subsymbols may collectively be in the form of a data-symbol pattern. While the transmitter <b>44</b> is operating as a primary transmitter, the data generator <b>108</b> generates a primary data-symbol pattern that is compatible with the data-subcarrier-coefficient generator <b>112</b> modulating the data subcarriers with the primary data-symbol pattern; but while the transmitter is operating as a secondary transmitter, the data generator generates one or more secondary data-symbol patterns P_data_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾that are compatible with the pilot-subcarrier-coefficient generator <b>110</b> modulating the pilot subcarriers with the secondary data-symbol pattern(s).

0130While the transmitter <b>44</b> is operating as a primary transmitter, the pilot-subcarrier-coefficient generator <b>110</b> generates, from each pilot subsymbol provided by the pilot generator <b>106</b>, a respective complex frequency-domain coefficient for mapping to the respective pilot subcarrier. And while the transmitter <b>44</b> is operating as a secondary transmitter, the pilot-subcarrier-coefficient generator <b>110</b> generates, from each pilot subsymbol provided by the pilot generator <b>106</b> and from each data subsymbol provided by the data generator <b>108</b> via the mode switch <b>114</b>, a respective complex frequency-domain coefficient for mapping to the respective pilot subcarrier.

0131While the transmitter <b>44</b> is operating as a primary transmitter, the data-subcarrier-coefficient generator <b>112</b> generates, from each data subsymbol received from the data generator <b>108</b> via the mode switch <b>114</b>, a respective complex frequency-domain coefficient for mapping to the respective data subcarrier. For example, the data-subcarrier-coefficient generator <b>112</b> may be similar to the data-subcarrier-coefficient generator <b>86</b> of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 13</figref>.

0132The transmission stage <b>102</b> includes an Inverse Fourier Transform (IFFT) unit <b>116</b>, a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) <b>118</b>, and a modulator and driver <b>120</b>, which may be similar to the IFFT unit <b>88</b>, DAC <b>90</b>, and modulator and driver <b>92</b>, respectively, of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 13</figref>. But as discussed below, the IFFT unit <b>116</b> may increase the power of the pilot subcarriers while the transmitter <b>44</b> is operating as a secondary transmitter so that the total power of the secondary OFDM signal may be approximately the same as the total power of a primary OFDM signal that the transmitter generates while operating as a primary transmitter.

0133The antenna <b>48</b> transmits the modulated carrier signal for reception by a receiver such as a primary or secondary receiver <b>46</b> of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref>, or by the combined (primary and secondary) receiver <b>46</b> of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 12</figref>. The antenna <b>48</b> may also function as a receive antenna if the transmitter <b>44</b> is part of a transmitter-receiver device.

0134The higher-priority-transmission detector <b>104</b> conventionally senses whether a higher-priority transmitter is transmitting within the shared channel space <b>42</b> (<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 10 and 12</figref>). If the detector <b>104</b> senses that a higher-priority transmitter is transmitting, then the detector generates a control signal that causes the pilot generator <b>106</b> to generate the secondary pilot-symbol-pattern matrix P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾, the data generator <b>108</b> to generate one or more secondary data-symbol-pattern matrices P_data_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾, and the mode switch <b>114</b> to couple the data generator <b>108</b> to the pilot-subcarrier-coefficient generator <b>110</b>. But if the detector <b>104</b> does not sense that a higher-priority transmitter is transmitting, then the detector generates a control signal that causes the pilot generator <b>106</b> to generate the primary pilot-symbol-pattern matrix P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽ⁱ⁾, the data generator <b>108</b> to generate a primary data-symbol-pattern matrix, and the mode switch <b>114</b> to couple the data generator <b>108</b> to the data-subcarrier-coefficient generator <b>112</b>. If the detector <b>104</b> first detects that a higher-priority transmitter is transmitting, and then detects that a higher-priority transmitter is not transmitting, then the detector generates a control signal that causes the transmitter <b>44</b> to shift from secondary mode to primary mode; conversely, if the detector <b>104</b> first detects that a higher-priority transmitter is not transmitting, and then detects that a higher-priority transmitter is transmitting, then the detector generates a control signal that causes the transmitter <b>44</b> to shift from primary mode to secondary mode.

0135In an embodiment, while the transmitter <b>44</b> is operating as a primary transmitter, the pilot generator <b>106</b> may generate a primary pilot-symbol pattern according to a pilot-symbol-pattern matrix P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽⁰⁾as discussed above in conjunction with <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 13</figref>.

0136And while the transmitter <b>44</b> is operating as a secondary transmitter, the pilot generator <b>106</b> may generate a secondary pilot-symbol pattern according to a secondary pilot-symbol-pattern matrix P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽¹⁾, which is orthogonal to P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽⁰⁾for reasons discussed above in conjunction with <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 13</figref>.

0137An example of such an orthogonal secondary pilot-symbol-pattern matrix is given by the following equation: <br /><i>P</i>_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽¹⁾<i>=[f</i>^(1Z)<i>; f</i>^(1Z)<i>; . . . ; f</i>^(1Z)]  (13)<br /> where i=1 is the secondary pilot-symbol-pattern index number, f^(1Z)is a column vector, Z is the number of paths L in each channel between a respective transmitter-receiver pair (in an embodiment it is assumed that each channel always has the same number Z of paths L), and P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽¹⁾has N_Prows (each row represents a pilot cluster) and L_PN=2w_p+1 identical columns (i.e., f^(1Z)Hf^(1Z)=N_p) so as to have the following matrix form:

0138<maths id="MATH-US-00004" num="00004"><math overflow="scroll"><mtable><mtr><mtd><mrow><msubsup><mi>P</mi><mrow><mi>pilot</mi><mo>⁢</mo><mi>_</mi><mo>⁢</mo><mi>secondary</mi></mrow><mrow><mo>(</mo><mn>1</mn><mo>)</mo></mrow></msubsup><mo>=</mo><mrow><mo>[</mo><mtable><mtr><mtd><msubsup><mi>p</mi><mrow><mrow><mi>cluster</mi><mo>⁢</mo><mi>_</mi></mrow><mo>⁢</mo><mrow><mo>(</mo><mn>0</mn><mo>)</mo></mrow></mrow><mrow><mo>(</mo><mn>1</mn><mo>)</mo></mrow></msubsup></mtd></mtr><mtr><mtd><mi>⋮</mi></mtd></mtr><mtr><mtd><msubsup><mi>p</mi><mrow><mrow><mi>cluster</mi><mo>⁢</mo><mi>_</mi></mrow><mo>⁢</mo><mrow><mo>(</mo><mrow><msub><mi>N</mi><mi>p</mi></msub><mo>-</mo><mn>1</mn></mrow><mo>)</mo></mrow></mrow><mrow><mo>(</mo><mn>1</mn><mo>)</mo></mrow></msubsup></mtd></mtr></mtable><mo>]</mo></mrow></mrow></mtd><mtd><mrow><mo>(</mo><mn>14</mn><mo>)</mo></mrow></mtd></mtr></mtable></math></maths><br /> where the first row p_cluster_{<sub2>—</sub2>}₍₀₎⁽¹⁾of P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽¹⁾includes the pilot subsymbols that compose the 0^thpilot cluster L_Ptransmitted by the antenna <b>48</b>, the second row p_cluster_{<sub2>—</sub2>}₍₁₎⁽¹⁾of P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽¹⁾includes the pilot subsymbols that compose the 1^stpilot cluster L_Ptransmitted from the antenna, and the (N_p−1)^throw p_cluster_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_(N_{<sub2>P</sub2>}₋₁₎⁽¹⁾P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽¹⁾includes the pilot subsymbols that compose the (N_P−1)^thpilot cluster L_Ptransmitted from the antenna. In an embodiment, the rows of P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽¹⁾may be shifted up or down as long as they remain in a sequence <b>0</b>-N_P−1, and the same shift is applied to all of the matrices P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽ⁱ⁾and P_data_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾for 1≦i≦j−1, where j is the combined number of the primary pilot symbol, secondary pilot symbol, and data pilot symbol(s).

0139An example of the N_P×1 column vector f^(iZ)is given by equation (6) above. Therefore, <br /><i>f</i>^(1Z)=[1<i>e</i>^−j2πΔf^{<sub2>p</sub2>}^Z<i>e</i>^−j2π2Δf^{<sub2>p</sub2>}^Z<i>e</i>^−j2π3Δf^{<sub2>p</sub2>}^Z<i>. . . e</i>^−j2π(N^{<sub2>p</sub2>}^−1)Δf^{<sub2>p</sub2>}^Z]^T  (15)<br /> where

0140<maths id="MATH-US-00005" num="00005"><math overflow="scroll"><mrow><mrow><mi>Δ</mi><mo>⁢</mo><mstyle><mspace width="0.3em" height="0.3ex" /></mstyle><mo>⁢</mo><msub><mi>f</mi><mi>p</mi></msub></mrow><mo>=</mo><mrow><mfrac><mn>1</mn><msub><mi>N</mi><mi>p</mi></msub></mfrac><mo>.</mo></mrow></mrow></math></maths>

0141In another embodiment, the pilot generator <b>106</b> may generate a respective secondary pilot-symbol pattern according to a respective secondary pilot-symbol-pattern matrix P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾such that not only is each column of P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾orthogonal to each column of the primary pilot-symbol-pattern matrix P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽ⁱ⁾and the secondary data-symbol-pattern matrix(ces) P_data_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾, but each column of P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾is also orthogonal to every other column of the same matrix P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾as discussed above in conjunction with <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 13</figref> and equations (8) and (9).

0142An example of such a secondary pilot-symbol matrix with dual orthogonality is given by the following equation: <br /><i>P</i>_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽¹⁾<i>=[f</i>^(1L^{<sub2>PN</sub2>}^Z+0)<i>; f</i>^(1L^{<sub2>PN</sub2>}^Z+Z)<i>; . . . ; f</i>^(1L^{<sub2>PN</sub2>}^Z+(L^{<sub2>PN</sub2>}^−1)Z)]  (16)<br /> per equation (10) above, where i=1 is the secondary pilot-symbol-pattern index number, f^(L^{<sub2>PN</sub2>}^Z+Z)is a column vector, Z is the number of paths L in each channel between a respective transmitter-receiver pair (in an embodiment it is assumed that each channel always has the same number Z of paths L), and P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽¹⁾has N_Prows (each row represents a pilot cluster) and L_PN=2w_p+1 different columns.

0143Per equation (11) above, an example of an N_p×1 column vector f^(L^{<sub2>PN</sub2>}^Z+u)for uε{<b>0</b>, Z, . . . , ((L_PN−1)Z)} is given by the following equation: <br /><i>f</i>^(L^{<sub2>PN</sub2>}^Z+u)=[1 <i>e</i>^−j2πΔf^{<sub2>p</sub2>}^(L^{<sub2>PN</sub2>}^Z+u)<i>e</i>^−j2π2Δf^{<sub2>p</sub2>}^(L^{<sub2>PN</sub2>}^Z+u)<i>e</i>^−j2π3Δf^{<sub2>p</sub2>}(L^{<sub2>PN</sub2>}^Z+u)<i>. . . e</i>^−j2π(N^{<sub2>p</sub2>}^−1)Δf^{<sub2>p</sub2>}^(L^{<sub2>PN</sub2>}^Z+u)]^T  (17)<br /> That is, to form the entire matrix P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽¹⁾, one generates the first column of this matrix from equation (17) with u=0, the second column of this matrix from equation (17) with u=Z, the third column of this matrix from equation (17) with u=2Z, . . . , and the L_PN^thcolumn of this matrix from equation (17) with u=(L_PN−1)Z.

0144Still referring to <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 14</figref>, and further while the transmitter <b>44</b> is operating as a secondary transmitter, the data generator <b>108</b> may generate one or more secondary data-symbol patterns according to one or more secondary data-symbol-pattern matrices P_data_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾, which are each orthogonal to P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽⁰⁾and to P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽¹⁾for reasons discussed above in conjunction with <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 13</figref>.

0145An example of such an orthogonal secondary data-symbol-pattern matrix is given by the following equation: <br /><i>P</i>_data_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾=α_i<i>P</i>⁽ⁱ⁾for <i>i=</i>2<i>→└N</i>_P<i>/Z┘</i>  (18)<br /> where the “└ ┘” operator indicates that N_P/Z is rounded to the nearest integer not greater than N_P/Z, where <br /><i>P</i>⁽ⁱ⁾<i>=[f</i>^(iZ)<i>; f</i>^(iZ)<i>; . . . ; f</i>^(iZ)]  (19)<br /> per equations (4) and (6) above, or <br /><i>P</i>⁽ⁱ⁾<i>=[f</i>^(iL^{<sub2>PN</sub2>}^Z+0Z)<i>; f</i>^(iL^{<sub2>PN</sub2>}^Z+1Z)<i>; f</i>^(iL^{<sub2>PN</sub2>}^Z+2Z)<i>; . . . ; f</i>^(iL^{<sub2>PN</sub2>}^Z+(L^{<sub2>PN</sub2>}^−1)Z]  (20)<br /> per equation (10) above, where α_iis given by the following equation:

0146<maths id="MATH-US-00006" num="00006"><math overflow="scroll"><mtable><mtr><mtd><mrow><msub><mi>α</mi><mi>i</mi></msub><mo>=</mo><mrow><msqrt><mfrac><mrow><mrow><mo>(</mo><mrow><msub><mi>L</mi><mi>PN</mi></msub><mo>+</mo><msub><mi>L</mi><mi>DN</mi></msub></mrow><mo>)</mo></mrow><mo>⁢</mo><mi>Z</mi></mrow><mrow><msub><mi>L</mi><mi>PN</mi></msub><mo>⁡</mo><mrow><mo>(</mo><mrow><msub><mi>N</mi><mi>P</mi></msub><mo>-</mo><mrow><mn>2</mn><mo>⁢</mo><mstyle><mspace width="0.3em" height="0.3ex" /></mstyle><mo>⁢</mo><mi>Z</mi></mrow></mrow><mo>)</mo></mrow></mrow></mfrac></msqrt><mo>⁢</mo><msub><mi>X</mi><mi>i</mi></msub></mrow></mrow></mtd><mtd><mrow><mo>(</mo><mn>21</mn><mo>)</mo></mrow></mtd></mtr></mtable></math></maths><br /> and where L_PNis the length of each pilot cluster, L_DNis the length of each data cluster, Z is the number of paths L in each channel between a transmitter-receiver pair in the shared channel space <b>42</b> (<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 10 and 12</figref>), N_Pis the number of pilot clusters in the primary and secondary OFDM symbols, and X_iare the data subsymbols that are generated by the data generator <b>108</b>. In an embodiment, i=2 is the first symbol-pattern index value for the secondary data-symbol-pattern matrices P_data_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾per equation (19) because i=0 is the index value for the primary pilot-symbol-pattern matrix P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽ⁱ⁾per equation (4), and because i=1 is the index value for the secondary pilot-symbol-pattern matrix P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾per equation (16).

0147The group of all possible data-symbol-pattern matrices P_data_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾is given by the following equation:

0148<maths id="MATH-US-00007" num="00007"><math overflow="scroll"><mtable><mtr><mtd><mrow><msub><mi>P</mi><mi>data_secondary</mi></msub><mo>=</mo><mrow><munderover><mo>∑</mo><mrow><mi>i</mi><mo>=</mo><mn>2</mn></mrow><mrow><mo>⌊</mo><mfrac><msub><mi>N</mi><mi>P</mi></msub><mi>Z</mi></mfrac><mo>⌋</mo></mrow></munderover><mo>⁢</mo><mrow><msub><mi>α</mi><mi>i</mi></msub><mo>⁢</mo><msup><mi>P</mi><mrow><mo>(</mo><mi>i</mi><mo>)</mo></mrow></msup></mrow></mrow></mrow></mtd><mtd><mrow><mo>(</mo><mn>22</mn><mo>)</mo></mrow></mtd></mtr></mtable></math></maths><br /> P_data_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary, therefore, may be a sum of multiple secondary data-symbol-pattern matrices P_data_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾, where the pilot-subcarrier-coefficient generator <b>110</b> modulates the pilot subcarriers of a secondary OFDM symbol with the sum of P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽¹⁾and P_data_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary(where P_data_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondaryitself may be a sum of j−2 matrices, where j is the total number of primary pilot, secondary pilot, and secondary data matrices).

0149Each secondary data-symbol-pattern matrix P_data_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾is in the form:

0150<maths id="MATH-US-00008" num="00008"><math overflow="scroll"><mtable><mtr><mtd><mrow><msubsup><mi>P</mi><mi>data_secondary</mi><mrow><mo>(</mo><mi>i</mi><mo>)</mo></mrow></msubsup><mo>=</mo><mrow><mo>[</mo><mtable><mtr><mtd><msubsup><mi>p</mi><mrow><mi>cluster_</mi><mo>⁢</mo><mrow><mo>(</mo><mn>0</mn><mo>)</mo></mrow></mrow><mrow><mo>(</mo><mi>i</mi><mo>)</mo></mrow></msubsup></mtd></mtr><mtr><mtd><mi>⋮</mi></mtd></mtr><mtr><mtd><msubsup><mi>p</mi><mrow><mi>cluster_</mi><mo>⁢</mo><mrow><mo>(</mo><mrow><msub><mi>N</mi><mi>p</mi></msub><mo>-</mo><mn>1</mn></mrow><mo>)</mo></mrow></mrow><mrow><mo>(</mo><mi>i</mi><mo>)</mo></mrow></msubsup></mtd></mtr></mtable><mo>]</mo></mrow></mrow></mtd><mtd><mrow><mo>(</mo><mn>23</mn><mo>)</mo></mrow></mtd></mtr></mtable></math></maths><br /> where, the first row p_cluster_{<sub2>—</sub2>}₍₀₎⁽ⁱ⁾of P_data_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾includes the pilot subsymbols that compose the 0^thpilot cluster L_Ptransmitted by the antenna <b>48</b>, the second row p_cluster_{<sub2>—</sub2>}₍₁₎⁽ⁱ⁾of P_data_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾includes the pilot subsymbols that compose the 1^stpilot cluster L_Ptransmitted from the antenna, and the (N_P−1)^throw p_cluster_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_(N_{<sub2>p</sub2>}₋₁₎⁽ⁱ⁾of P_data_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾includes the pilot subsymbols that compose the (N_P−1)^thpilot cluster L_Ptransmitted from the antenna. In an embodiment, the rows of each matrix P_data_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾may be shifted up or down as long as they remain in a sequence <b>0</b>-N_P−1, and the same shift is applied to all of the matrices P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽⁰⁾, P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽¹⁾and any other matrix(ces) P_data_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾.

0151Still referring to <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 14</figref>, the operation of the transmitter <b>44</b> is described according to an embodiment.

0152In a primary mode while the detector <b>104</b> is not detecting a transmission from a transmitter that has a higher priority, the transmitter <b>44</b> generates and transmits a primary OFDM signal such as the primary OFDM signal <b>53</b> of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 11A</figref>. The pilot generator <b>106</b> generates a primary pilot-symbol pattern P_pilot_{<sub2>—primary</sub2>}⁽⁰⁾, and the pilot-subcarrier-coefficient generator <b>110</b> modulates the pilot subcarriers of each primary OFDM symbol with P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽⁰⁾. Furthermore, the data generator <b>108</b> generates primary data-symbol patterns, and the mode switch <b>114</b> couples the primary data-symbol patterns to the data-subcarrier-coefficient generator <b>112</b>, which modulates the data subcarriers of each primary OFDM symbol with a respective one of the primary data-symbol patterns. The IFFT <b>116</b> converts the modulated pilot and data subcarriers from the coefficient generators <b>110</b> and <b>112</b> into a time-domain digital signal, the DAC <b>118</b> converts this time-domain digital signal into a time-domain analog signal, and the modulator-driver <b>120</b> modulates a carrier signal (e.g., 5.4 GHz) with the time-domain analog signal and drives the antenna <b>48</b> with the modulated carrier signal for transmission.

0153In a secondary mode while the detector <b>104</b> is detecting a transmission from a transmitter that has a higher priority, the transmitter <b>44</b> generates and transmits a secondary OFDM signal such as the secondary OFDM signal <b>55</b> of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 11B</figref>. The pilot generator <b>106</b> generates a secondary pilot-symbol pattern P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽¹⁾, the data generator <b>108</b> generates secondary data-symbol patterns P_data_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary, and the mode switch <b>114</b> routes P_data_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondaryto the pilot-subcarrier-coefficient generator <b>110</b>, which modulates the pilot subcarriers of each secondary OFDM symbol with both P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽¹⁾and a respective P_data_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary. The IFFT unit <b>116</b> converts the modulated pilot subcarriers—the data subcarriers have zero energy—from the coefficient generator <b>110</b> into a time-domain digital signal, the DAC <b>118</b> converts this time-domain digital signal into a time-domain analog signal, and the modulator-driver <b>120</b> modulates a carrier signal (e.g., 5.4 GHz) with the time-domain analog signal and drives the antenna <b>48</b> with the modulated carrier signal for transmission. And as discussed above, the IFFT unit <b>116</b> may increase the power of the pilot subcarriers relative to the power of the pilot subcarriers of the primary OFDM signal that the transmitter <b>44</b> generates while operating as a primary transmitter such that the total power of the secondary OFDM signal is approximately the same as the total power of the primary OFDM signal being transmitted by the higher-priority transmitter.

0154Still referring to <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 14</figref>, alternate embodiments of the primary-secondary transmitter <b>44</b> are contemplated. For example, there may be more than two transmitters simultaneously transmitting in secondary mode. In such a scenario, the secondary transmitters “share” the available index values for i. Suppose there are two secondary transmitters, and that └N_P/Z┘=4. The primary transmitter uses P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽⁰⁾(i=0), the first secondary transmitter uses P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽¹⁾(i=1) and P_data_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽²⁾(i=2), and the second secondary transmitter uses P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽³⁾(i=3) and P_data_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽⁴⁾(i=4). Therefore, one can see that └N_P/Z┘ effectively sets a limit as to how many secondary transmitters can simultaneously transmit secondary OFDM signals. In such an embodiment, the transmission detector <b>104</b> may also detect the number of transmitters transmitting in secondary mode, and indicate whether, based on the value └N_P/Z┘, the transmitter <b>44</b> is able to simultaneously transmit in secondary mode. If the transmitter <b>44</b> has a higher priority than another transmitter that is transmitting, then the transmitter <b>44</b> may broadcast a signal that indicates that the transmitter <b>44</b> has priority to transmit, and that causes the other transmitter to cease transmitting so as to allow the transmitter <b>44</b> to transmit.

0155In addition, referring to <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 13 and 14</figref>, although P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽ⁱ⁾, P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽¹⁾, and P_data_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾are described as being symbol patterns for APPC pilot clusters (<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 8</figref>), one may modify one or more of these symbol patterns for use with FDKD pilot clusters (<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 7</figref>), and may, accordingly, modify one or more of equations (3)-(23), in accordance with known principles. Furthermore, the primary transmitter <b>44</b> of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 13</figref> may be omitted from the transmitter-receiver systems <b>40</b> (<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10) and 70</figref> (<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 12</figref>) so that the hierarchy of the transmitters may be periodically changed so that one transmitter is not always the primary transmitter. In addition, one may use the above-described principles to modulate the data clusters with multiple data-symbol patterns to increase the data rate of a transmitter <b>44</b>.

0156Before describing in more detail the primary and secondary receivers <b>46</b> of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 10 and 12</figref>, a model of the channels between the transmitters <b>44</b> and receivers of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 10 and 12</figref> within the shared channel space <b>42</b> is described below in conjunction with <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 15 and 16</figref> according to an embodiment.

0157<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 15</figref> is a diagram of the t transmitters <b>44</b> and the t receivers <b>46</b> of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref>, and of the shared channel space <b>42</b> between the transmitters and receivers; the diagram is simplified to include only the antennas <b>48</b> and <b>50</b> of the transmitters and receivers, respectively. Furthermore, only the configuration and operation of the transmitter-receiver system <b>40</b> where the transmitters <b>44</b> transmit signals and the receivers <b>46</b> receive signals is discussed, it being understood that the configuration and operation of the system where a device including a transmitter <b>44</b> receives a signal and a device including a receiver <b>46</b> transmits a signal may be similar. In addition, one or more of the transmitters <b>44</b> and one or more of the receivers <b>46</b> may be moving relative to one another such that a signal propagating between a transmitter and receiver pair may experience Doppler Spread.

0158As discussed above in conjunction with <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 10</figref>, <b>13</b>, and <b>14</b>, each transmitter <b>44</b> transmits a respective OFDM signal carrying respective OFDM symbols via a respective antenna <b>48</b>.

0159Therefore, in the described configuration, the system <b>40</b> forms t²multipath transmit channels <b>130</b>₀-<b>130</b>_t-1²between the respective transmit antennas <b>48</b>₀-<b>48</b>_t-1and the corresponding receive antennas <b>50</b>₀-<b>50</b>_t-1. That is, the system <b>40</b> includes a respective channel <b>130</b> between each transmit antenna <b>48</b>₀-<b>48</b>_t-1and the corresponding receive antenna <b>50</b>₀-<b>50</b>_t-1. Furthermore, in an embodiment of the system <b>40</b>, a designer may assume that each channel <b>130</b> has the same number Z of paths L.

0160Because the channels <b>130</b> each include different paths L, the channels may be said to be spatially different or diverse. As described above and as evident from the equations described below in conjunction with <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 17-23</figref>, even though the transmitters <b>44</b> may transmit t primary and secondary OFDM signals using the same N subcarriers, the spatial diversity of the channels <b>130</b>, and the orthogonality between the primary pilot symbols, secondary pilot symbols, and secondary data symbols, may allow each receiver <b>46</b> to recover the data from the OFDM signal transmitted by a corresponding transmitter <b>44</b> with an error rate that may be suitable for many applications, including mobile applications where Doppler Spread may be present.

0161<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 16</figref> is a diagram of the transmitter-receiver system <b>70</b> of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 12</figref>, in which the number of receivers <b>46</b> (here only one receiver <b>46</b>) is less than t, and in which the number of channels <b>130</b> is less than t². For example, where the system <b>70</b> includes only one receiver <b>46</b>, then the system includes t channels <b>130</b>₁-<b>130</b>_t-1.

0162The operations of the receivers <b>46</b> of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 10 and 12</figref> in primary and secondary modes are described below in conjunction with <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 17-23</figref>. For example purposes, it is assumed that, unless otherwise noted, the system <b>40</b> of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref> includes a primary transmitter <b>44</b>₀and one secondary transmitter <b>44</b>₁, includes a primary receiver <b>46</b>₀for recovering data from a primary OFDM signal transmitted by the primary transmitter, and includes one secondary receiver <b>46</b>₁for recovering data from a secondary OFDM signal transmitted by the secondary transmitter. Consequently, it is assumed that, unless otherwise noted, there are the following four channels in the channel space <b>42</b>: a primary-primary (p, p) channel <b>130</b>₀between the primary transmitter <b>44</b>₀and primary receiver <b>46</b>₀, a primary-secondary (p, s) channel <b>130</b>₁between the primary transmitter and the secondary receiver <b>46</b>₁, a secondary-primary (s, p) channel <b>130</b>₂between the secondary transmitter <b>44</b>₁and the primary receiver, and a secondary-secondary (s, s) channel between the secondary transmitter and the secondary receiver.

0163Before describing the primary and secondary receivers <b>46</b>₀and <b>46</b>₁, some channel-estimation-related quantities, other quantities, and the mathematical relationships between some of these quantities, are described. All of the quantities and relationships described below assume that: (1) APPC pilot clusters L_P(<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 8</figref>) are used unless otherwise noted (embodiments of primary and second receivers <b>46</b>₀and <b>46</b>₁that are compatible with FDKD pilot clusters (<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 7</figref>) are discussed below in conjunction with <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 21 and 23</figref>); (2) the pilot clusters L_Pand the data clusters L_Din each primary and secondary OFDM signal from a respective transmitter are in the same relative positions (i.e., include the same subcarriers); and (3) each of the four channels <b>130</b>₀-<b>130</b>₃includes, or is assumed to include, the same number Z of paths L. Furthermore, these quantities, the relationships between these quantities, and related concepts are described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/284,879, filed Oct. 29, 2011, Ser. No. 13/284,890 filed Oct. 29, 2011, Ser. No. 13/284,894 filed Oct. 29, 2011, and Ser. No. 13/284,898 filed Oct. 29, 2011, which are incorporated by reference. <br /><i>h</i>_l^(a,b)<i>=[h</i>_l^(a,b)(<i><u>s</u></i>), . . . , <i>h</i>_l^(a,b)(<i><u>s</u>+N−</i>1)]^T  (24)<br /> where h_l^(a,b)is a column vector that represents the time-domain response of the path 0≦l≦Z of the (a, b) channel during an OFDM symbol period, <u>s</u> is the first sample time after the cyclic prefix in the OFDM symbol (if there is a cyclic prefix), and N is the number of subcarriers k (both pilot and data subcarriers) in the OFDM signal transmitted by the transmit antenna <b>48</b> for the (a, b) channel. For example, if N=128 and the cyclic prefix has four samples, then the OFDM signal transmitted by the transmit antenna <b>48</b> for the (a, b) channel has a total of 128+4=132 samples, and h_l^(a,b)includes one hundred twenty eight complex elements corresponding to the time-domain samples taken by the receiver.

0164In at least some applications, the elements of h_l^(a,b)may be approximated as fitting a curve such as a straight line. Therefore, the elements of h_l^(a,b)may be represented in terms of a polynomial that describes the curve. For example, where the curve is a straight line, which one may represent with the linear equation y=mx+b where m is the slope of the line and b is the y-axis intercept, h_l^(a,b)may be similarly represented in terms of an offset and slope according to the following equation: <br /><i>h</i>_l^(a,b)<i>=B <o>h</o></i>_l^(a,b)  (25)<br /> where B is a binomial expansion matrix having elements (m, n) arranged in Q columns such that B(m,n)=mⁿ(m is the row number and n is the column number), and <o>h</o>_l^(a,b)is a scaling column vector having Q rows/elements; consequently, where the fitting curve is a straight line,

0165<maths id="MATH-US-00009" num="00009"><math overflow="scroll"><mrow><mi>B</mi><mo>=</mo><mrow><mo>[</mo><mtable><mtr><mtd><mn>1</mn></mtd><mtd><mn>0</mn></mtd></mtr><mtr><mtd><mi>⋮</mi></mtd><mtd><mi>⋮</mi></mtd></mtr><mtr><mtd><mn>1</mn></mtd><mtd><mrow><mi>N</mi><mo>-</mo><mn>1</mn></mrow></mtd></mtr></mtable><mo>]</mo></mrow></mrow></math></maths><br /> and <o>h</o>_l^(a,b)is a column vector with Q=2 elements that respectively represent offset and slope. Because typically Q&lt;&lt;N, <o>h</o>_l^(a,b)is typically much smaller (e.g., has many fewer elements), and is thus typically easier to manipulate, than h_l^(a,b).

0166A concatenation vector <o>ĥ</o>^(a,b)of all Z scaling column vectors <o>h</o>_l^(a,b)for a channel (a, b) is given by the following equation: <br /><i><o>ĥ</o></i>^(a,b)<i>=[ <o>h</o></i>₀^(a,b)T<i>. . . <o>h</o></i>_Z-1^(a,b)T]^T  (26)

0167A channel-independent N_P×1 column vector P_p^a, which a receiver <b>46</b> may determine or store ahead of time, is given by the following equation: <br /><i>P</i>_p^a<i>=[P</i>_b<i>+a, P</i>_b<i>+P</i>_sep<i>+a, . . . , P</i>_b+(<i>N</i>_P−1)<i>P</i>_sep<i>+a]</i>^T  (27)<br /> where, as discussed above in conjunction with <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 7-8</figref>, P_bis the relative center pilot subcarrier of each pilot cluster L_P(and, therefore, is the center pilot subcarrier of the zeroth pilot cluster L_P), P_sepis the pilot-cluster separation, and N_Pis the number of pilot clusters in a primary OFDM signal and in a secondary OFDM signal. For example, if a signal has N_P=3 pilot clusters of L_PN=5 pilot subcarriers each, P_b=2, and P_sep=8, then P_p⁻²=[0, 8, 16], P_p⁻¹=[1, 9, 17], P_p⁰=[2, 10, 18], P_p⁺¹=[3, 11, 19], and P_p⁺²=[4, 12, 20].

0168A channel-independent (2B_C+1)N_P×1 master-pilot-subcarrier-index column vector P_master_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_pilot, which a receiver <b>46</b> may determine or store ahead of time, is given by the following equation: <br /><i>P</i>_master_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_pilot<i>=[P</i>_p^(−B^{<sub2>C</sub2>}⁾^{<sup2>T </sup2>}<i>P</i>_p^(−B^{<sub2>C</sub2>}⁺¹⁾^{<sup2>T </sup2>}<i>. . . P</i>_p^(+B^{<sub2>C</sub2>}⁾^{<sup2>T</sup2>}]^T  (28)

0169A channel-independent matrix Q (not to be confused with the value Q described above) having the same dimensions N_P×L_PNas P_primary_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_pilot⁽ⁱ⁾P_secondary_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_pilot⁽ⁱ⁾, and P_secondary_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_data⁽ⁱ⁾, and which a receiver <b>46</b> may determine or store ahead of time, is given by the following equation:

0170<maths id="MATH-US-00010" num="00010"><math overflow="scroll"><mtable><mtr><mtd><mrow><mi>Q</mi><mo>=</mo><mrow><mo>[</mo><mtable><mtr><mtd><mrow><msub><mi>P</mi><mi>b</mi></msub><mo>-</mo><msub><mi>w</mi><mi>p</mi></msub></mrow></mtd><mtd><mi>…</mi></mtd><mtd><mrow><msub><mi>P</mi><mi>b</mi></msub><mo>+</mo><msub><mi>w</mi><mi>p</mi></msub></mrow></mtd></mtr><mtr><mtd><mstyle><mspace width="0.3em" height="0.3ex" /></mstyle></mtd><mtd><mi>⋮</mi></mtd><mtd><mstyle><mspace width="0.3em" height="0.3ex" /></mstyle></mtd></mtr><mtr><mtd><mrow><msub><mi>P</mi><mi>b</mi></msub><mo>+</mo><mrow><msub><mi>P</mi><mi>sep</mi></msub><mo>⁡</mo><mrow><mo>(</mo><mrow><msub><mi>N</mi><mi>p</mi></msub><mo>-</mo><mn>1</mn></mrow><mo>)</mo></mrow></mrow><mo>-</mo><msub><mi>w</mi><mi>p</mi></msub></mrow></mtd><mtd><mi>…</mi></mtd><mtd><mrow><msub><mi>P</mi><mi>b</mi></msub><mo>+</mo><mrow><msub><mi>P</mi><mi>sep</mi></msub><mo>⁡</mo><mrow><mo>(</mo><mrow><msub><mi>N</mi><mi>p</mi></msub><mo>-</mo><mn>1</mn></mrow><mo>)</mo></mrow></mrow><mo>+</mo><msub><mi>w</mi><mi>p</mi></msub></mrow></mtd></mtr></mtable><mo>]</mo></mrow></mrow></mtd><mtd><mrow><mo>(</mo><mn>29</mn><mo>)</mo></mrow></mtd></mtr></mtable></math></maths><br /> That is, the matrix <b>0</b> includes the subcarrier indices k for the pilot subcarriers corresponding to the pilot clusters in P_primary_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_pilot⁽ⁱ⁾, P_seconday_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_pilot⁽ⁱ⁾, and P_secondary_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_data⁽ⁱ⁾. For example, if a transmitted signal has N_P=3 pilot clusters of L_PN=5 pilot subcarriers each, P_b=2, and P_sep=8, then

0171<maths id="MATH-US-00011" num="00011"><math overflow="scroll"><mrow><mi>Q</mi><mo>=</mo><mrow><mrow><mo>[</mo><mtable><mtr><mtd><mn>0</mn></mtd><mtd><mn>1</mn></mtd><mtd><mn>2</mn></mtd><mtd><mn>3</mn></mtd><mtd><mn>4</mn></mtd></mtr><mtr><mtd><mn>8</mn></mtd><mtd><mn>9</mn></mtd><mtd><mn>10</mn></mtd><mtd><mn>11</mn></mtd><mtd><mn>12</mn></mtd></mtr><mtr><mtd><mn>16</mn></mtd><mtd><mn>17</mn></mtd><mtd><mn>18</mn></mtd><mtd><mn>19</mn></mtd><mtd><mn>20</mn></mtd></mtr></mtable><mo>]</mo></mrow><mo>.</mo></mrow></mrow></math></maths>

0172A channel-independent (assuming all pilot clusters are in the same relative positions in all of the transmitted primary and secondary OFDM signals) column vector p_Qhaving dimensions N_PL_PN×1, and which a receiver <b>46</b> may determine or store ahead of time, is given by the following equation: <br /><i>p</i>_Q<i>=[k</i>_P_{<sub2>b−</sub2>}_w_{<sub2>p </sub2>}<i>. . . k</i>_P_{<sub2>b+</sub2>}_P_{<sub2>sep</sub2>}_(N_{<sub2>p</sub2>}_−1)+w_{<sub2>p</sub2>}]_T  (30)<br /> That is, p_Qincludes the subcarrier indices k of all pilot subcarriers in an OFDM symbol; or, viewed another way, p_Qincludes the rows of the matrix Q transposed and “stacked” end to end.

0173A generic pilot-symbol-pattern matrix P_pat⁽ⁱ⁾equals P_primary_{<sub2>—pilot</sub2>}⁽ⁱ⁾for a primary receiver <b>46</b>, and equals P_secondary_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_pilot⁽ⁱ⁾for a secondary receiver <b>46</b>. That is, the value of the index i indicates to which pilot pattern P_pat⁽ⁱ⁾is equal in the following equations and relations in which P_pat⁽ⁱ⁾appears.

0174Channel-dependent 2N_P×L_PNmatrices <u>θ</u>_l⁽ⁱ⁾, which a receiver <b>46</b> may determine or store ahead of time, are given by the following equation:

0175<maths id="MATH-US-00012" num="00012"><math overflow="scroll"><mtable><mtr><mtd><mrow><msubsup><munder><mi>θ</mi><mi>_</mi></munder><mi>l</mi><mrow><mo>(</mo><mi>i</mi><mo>)</mo></mrow></msubsup><mo>=</mo><mrow><mo>[</mo><mtable><mtr><mtd><msup><mi>ⅇ</mi><mrow><mrow><mo>-</mo><mi>j</mi></mrow><mo>⁢</mo><mstyle><mspace width="0.3em" height="0.3ex" /></mstyle><mo>⁢</mo><mn>2</mn><mo>⁢</mo><mstyle><mspace width="0.3em" height="0.3ex" /></mstyle><mo>⁢</mo><mi>π</mi><mo>⁢</mo><mstyle><mspace width="0.3em" height="0.3ex" /></mstyle><mo>⁢</mo><mi>Q</mi><mo>⁢</mo><mstyle><mspace width="0.3em" height="0.3ex" /></mstyle><mo>⁢</mo><mi>Δ</mi><mo>⁢</mo><mstyle><mspace width="0.3em" height="0.3ex" /></mstyle><mo>⁢</mo><mi>fl</mi></mrow></msup></mtd><mtd><mo>⊙</mo></mtd><mtd><msubsup><mi>P</mi><mi>pat</mi><mrow><mo>(</mo><mi>i</mi><mo>)</mo></mrow></msubsup></mtd></mtr><mtr><mtd><msup><mi>ⅇ</mi><mrow><mrow><mo>-</mo><mi>j</mi></mrow><mo>⁢</mo><mstyle><mspace width="0.3em" height="0.3ex" /></mstyle><mo>⁢</mo><mn>2</mn><mo>⁢</mo><mstyle><mspace width="0.3em" height="0.3ex" /></mstyle><mo>⁢</mo><mi>π</mi><mo>⁢</mo><mstyle><mspace width="0.3em" height="0.3ex" /></mstyle><mo>⁢</mo><mi>Q</mi><mo>⁢</mo><mstyle><mspace width="0.3em" height="0.3ex" /></mstyle><mo>⁢</mo><mi>Δ</mi><mo>⁢</mo><mstyle><mspace width="0.3em" height="0.3ex" /></mstyle><mo>⁢</mo><mi>fl</mi></mrow></msup></mtd><mtd><mo>⊙</mo></mtd><mtd><msubsup><mi>P</mi><mi>pat</mi><mrow><mo>(</mo><mi>i</mi><mo>)</mo></mrow></msubsup></mtd></mtr></mtable><mo>]</mo></mrow></mrow></mtd><mtd><mrow><mo>(</mo><mn>31</mn><mo>)</mo></mrow></mtd></mtr></mtable></math></maths><br /> where Δf=1/N and the “⊙” operator indicates that each e term is formed using a respective element of the matrix Q, each formed e term is multiplied by a corresponding element of the matrix P_pat⁽ⁱ⁾, and this procedure is repeated for all N_P×L_PNelements of Q and P_pat⁽ⁱ⁾, resulting in another N_P×L_PNmatrix. For example the (m,n)^thelement of e^−j2πQΔflis e^{−j2πQ(m,n)Δfl}. Then, this resulting matrix is effectively “stacked” on itself to obtain the 2N_P×L_PNmatrix <u>θ</u>_l⁽ⁱ⁾.

0176Channel- and path-dependent N_P×L_PNmatrices R_l^(m,i), which a receiver <b>46</b> may determine or store ahead of time, are given by the following equation for 0≦m≦N_P−1: <br /><i>R</i>_l^(m,i)=<u>θ</u>_l⁽ⁱ⁾(<i>m→m+N</i>_P−1, :)  (32)<br /> where “m→m+Np−1” are the rows of <u>θ</u>_l⁽ⁱ⁾used to populate R_l^(m,i), and “:” indicates that all columns of these rows of <u>θ</u>_l⁽ⁱ⁾are used to populate R_l^(m,i).

0177Channel- and path-dependent N_P×N_PL_PNmatrices θ_l⁽ⁱ⁾(note there is no underlining beneath “θ”, this lack of underlining distinguishing this matrix from the matrix <u>θ</u>_l⁽ⁱ⁾of equation (31)), which a receiver <b>46</b> may determine and/or store ahead of time, are given by the following equation: <br />θ_l⁽ⁱ⁾<i>=[R</i>_l^(0,i)<i>R</i>_l^(1,i)<i>. . . R</i>_l^((N^{<sub2>p</sub2>}^−1),i)]  (33)

0178j channel-independent N_PL_PN×N matrices W^(j), which a receiver <b>46</b> may calculate or store dynamically or ahead of time, are given by the following equation for −B_c≦j≦+B_c:

0179<maths id="MATH-US-00013" num="00013"><math overflow="scroll"><mtable><mtr><mtd><mrow><msup><mi>W</mi><mrow><mo>(</mo><mi>j</mi><mo>)</mo></mrow></msup><mo>=</mo><mrow><mfrac><mn>1</mn><mi>N</mi></mfrac><mo>⁡</mo><mrow><mo>[</mo><mtable><mtr><mtd><mrow><msup><mi>F</mi><mi>H</mi></msup><mo>⁡</mo><mrow><mo>(</mo><mrow><mrow><mo>〈</mo><mrow><mi>N</mi><mo>+</mo><mrow><mo>(</mo><mrow><mrow><msub><mi>p</mi><mi>Q</mi></msub><mo>⁡</mo><mrow><mo>(</mo><mn>0</mn><mo>)</mo></mrow></mrow><mo>-</mo><msub><mi>P</mi><mi>b</mi></msub><mo>-</mo><mi>j</mi></mrow><mo>)</mo></mrow></mrow><mo>〉</mo></mrow><mo>,</mo><mo>:</mo></mrow><mo>)</mo></mrow></mrow></mtd></mtr><mtr><mtd><mrow><msup><mi>F</mi><mi>H</mi></msup><mo>⁡</mo><mrow><mo>(</mo><mrow><mrow><mo>〈</mo><mrow><mi>N</mi><mo>+</mo><mrow><mo>(</mo><mrow><mrow><msub><mi>p</mi><mi>Q</mi></msub><mo>⁡</mo><mrow><mo>(</mo><mn>1</mn><mo>)</mo></mrow></mrow><mo>-</mo><msub><mi>P</mi><mi>b</mi></msub><mo>-</mo><mi>j</mi></mrow><mo>)</mo></mrow></mrow><mo>〉</mo></mrow><mo>,</mo><mo>:</mo></mrow><mo>)</mo></mrow></mrow></mtd></mtr><mtr><mtd><mi>⋮</mi></mtd></mtr><mtr><mtd><mrow><msup><mi>F</mi><mi>H</mi></msup><mo>⁡</mo><mrow><mo>(</mo><mrow><mrow><mo>〈</mo><mrow><mi>N</mi><mo>+</mo><mrow><mo>(</mo><mrow><mrow><msub><mi>p</mi><mi>Q</mi></msub><mo>⁡</mo><mrow><mo>(</mo><mrow><mrow><msub><mi>N</mi><mi>P</mi></msub><mo>⁢</mo><msub><mi>L</mi><mi>PN</mi></msub></mrow><mo>-</mo><mn>1</mn></mrow><mo>)</mo></mrow></mrow><mo>-</mo><msub><mi>P</mi><mi>b</mi></msub><mo>-</mo><mi>j</mi></mrow><mo>)</mo></mrow></mrow><mo>〉</mo></mrow><mo>,</mo><mo>:</mo></mrow><mo>)</mo></mrow></mrow></mtd></mtr></mtable><mo>]</mo></mrow></mrow></mrow></mtd><mtd><mrow><mo>(</mo><mn>34</mn><mo>)</mo></mrow></mtd></mtr></mtable></math></maths><br /> where F is the known Fourier matrix, the “< >” operator indicates a modulo N operation, p_Q(n) is the n^thelement of the vector p_Q(equation (30)), P_bis the index of the relative center pilot subcarrier of each pilot cluster L_P(and the center pilot subcarrier of the zeroth pilot cluster), and “:” indicates all columns of the matrix F^Hin the indicated rows. Note that the number of rows in each W^(j)matrix is equal to the number N_PL_PNof pilot subcarriers in each transmitted primary and secondary OFDM signal.

0180A receive-antenna-dependent column vector <o>y</o>^(r)is given by the following equation: <br /><i><o>y</o></i>^(r)<i>=y</i>^r(<i>P</i>_master_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_pilot)  (35)<br /> where y^ris the signal received by the r^threceiver <b>46</b>, and “(P_master_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_pilot)” (equation (28)) indicates which elements of y^rform <o>y</o>^(r). For example, if the receiver <b>46</b> is the primary receiver, then r=p, and, if there are N_P=2 pilot clusters with L_PN=5 pilot subcarriers and three (B_c=1) non-guard pilot subcarriers located at subcarriers k=0 (guard), k=1, k=2, k=3, k=4 (guard), and k=8 (guard), k=9, k=10, k=11, k=12 (guard), then <o>y</o>^(r)would include the following pilot subcarriers of y^rin the listed order: k=1, k=9, k=2, k=10, k=3, k=11.

0181Pilot-symbol-pattern- and path-dependent N_P×(2B_c+1) row vectors q_l^(i)H, which a receiver <b>46</b> may calculate or store dynamically or ahead of time, are given by the following equation: <br /><i>q</i>_l^(i)H<i>=[f</i>^(iZ+l)H<i>. . . f</i>^(iZ+l)H]  (36)<br /> where f^(iZ+l)His a N_p×1 row vector that is repeated 2B_c+1 times to form q_l^(i)H. An example of f^(iZ+l)is described above in equation (17) with “iZ” replacing “L_PNZ”, and “l” replacing “u”. These values of q_l^(i)Hare suitable for applications where the pilot-symbol-pattern matrices P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽ⁱ⁾and P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾are based on f^(iZ)per, e.g., equations (4), (6), (7), and (15) above; but the values of q_l^(i)Hmay be modified according to known principles if the pilot-symbol-pattern matrices are based on a different function such as f^(iL^{<sub2>PN</sub2>}^Z+u)of equation (11) above.

0182Pilot-symbol-pattern- and path-dependent matrices ø_l⁽ⁱ⁾, which a receiver <b>46</b> may determine or store ahead of time, are given by the following equation:

0183<maths id="MATH-US-00014" num="00014"><math overflow="scroll"><mtable><mtr><mtd><mrow><msubsup><mi>∅</mi><mi>l</mi><mrow><mo>(</mo><mi>i</mi><mo>)</mo></mrow></msubsup><mo>=</mo><mrow><mrow><mo>[</mo><mtable><mtr><mtd><msubsup><mi>θ</mi><mi>l</mi><mrow><mo>(</mo><mi>i</mi><mo>)</mo></mrow></msubsup></mtd><mtd><mn>0</mn></mtd><mtd><mi>…</mi></mtd><mtd><mn>0</mn></mtd></mtr><mtr><mtd><mn>0</mn></mtd><mtd><msubsup><mi>θ</mi><mi>l</mi><mrow><mo>(</mo><mi>i</mi><mo>)</mo></mrow></msubsup></mtd><mtd><mi>…</mi></mtd><mtd><mn>0</mn></mtd></mtr><mtr><mtd><mi>⋮</mi></mtd><mtd><mi>⋮</mi></mtd><mtd><mi>⋱</mi></mtd><mtd><mi>⋮</mi></mtd></mtr><mtr><mtd><mn>0</mn></mtd><mtd><mn>0</mn></mtd><mtd><mi>…</mi></mtd><mtd><msubsup><mi>θ</mi><mi>l</mi><mrow><mo>(</mo><mi>i</mi><mo>)</mo></mrow></msubsup></mtd></mtr></mtable><mo>]</mo></mrow><mo>⁡</mo><mrow><mo>[</mo><mtable><mtr><mtd><mrow><msup><mi>W</mi><mrow><mo>(</mo><mrow><mo>-</mo><msub><mi>B</mi><mi>c</mi></msub></mrow><mo>)</mo></mrow></msup><mo>⁢</mo><mi>B</mi></mrow></mtd></mtr><mtr><mtd><mi>⋮</mi></mtd></mtr><mtr><mtd><mrow><msup><mi>W</mi><mrow><mo>(</mo><mrow><mo>+</mo><msub><mi>B</mi><mi>c</mi></msub></mrow><mo>)</mo></mrow></msup><mo>⁢</mo><mi>B</mi></mrow></mtd></mtr></mtable><mo>]</mo></mrow></mrow></mrow></mtd><mtd><mrow><mo>(</mo><mn>37</mn><mo>)</mo></mrow></mtd></mtr></mtable></math></maths>

0184Therefore, one can determine <o>y</o>^(a,b)according to the following equation: <br /><i><o>y</o></i>^(a,b)=[ø₀⁽ⁱ⁾ø₁⁽ⁱ⁾. . . ø_Z-1⁽ⁱ⁾<i>] <o>ĥ</o></i>^(a,b)  (38)<br /> where <o>y</o>^(a,b)represents the signal from transmitter a to receiver b at the pilot subcarriers only (as given by (P_master_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_pilot) per equation (35) above), and <o>ĥ</o>^(a,b)is given above by equation (26). For example, <o>y</o>^(p,p)represents the signal from the primary transmitter <b>44</b>₀to the primary receiver <b>46</b>₀at the pilot subcarriers only (as given by (P_master_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_pilot)), <o>y</o>^(p,s)represents the signal from the primary transmitter <b>44</b>₀to the secondary receiver <b>46</b>₁at the pilot subcarriers only (as given by (P_master_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_pilot)), <o>y</o>^(s,p)represents the signal from the secondary transmitter <b>44</b>₁to the primary receiver <b>46</b>₀at the pilot subcarriers only (as given by (P_master_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_pilot)), and <o>y</o>^(s,s)represents the signal from the secondary transmitter <b>44</b>₁to the secondary receiver <b>46</b>₀at the pilot subcarriers only (as given by (P_master_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_pilot)).

0185<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 17</figref> is a diagram of the primary receiver <b>46</b>₀of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref> according to an embodiment, and according to the above-described example where there the transmitter-receiver system <b>40</b> includes a primary transmitter <b>44</b>₀for transmitting a primary OFDM signal, a secondary transmitter <b>44</b>₁for transmitting a secondary OFDM signal, the primary receiver <b>46</b>₀for recovering data from the primary OFDM signal, and a secondary receiver <b>46</b>₁for recovering data from the secondary OFDM signal.

0186The primary receiver <b>46</b>₀includes an FFT unit <b>140</b>, a data-recovery unit <b>142</b>, a data-decoder unit <b>144</b>, a signal-recovery unit <b>146</b>, a channel estimator <b>148</b>, and a signal detector <b>150</b>.

0187The FFT unit <b>140</b> generates a frequency-domain received-signal column vector y^(p), and may be similar to the FFT unit <b>34</b> described above in conjunction with <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 9</figref>.

0188The data-recovery unit <b>142</b> recovers data symbols {circumflex over (x)} from the data subcarriers of the primary OFDM signal y^(p,p), and may be similar to the data-recovery unit <b>38</b> described above in conjunction with <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 9</figref>.

0189The data-decoder unit <b>144</b> decodes the data {circumflex over (x)} recovered by the data-recovery unit <b>142</b>, and may be similar to the data-decoder unit <b>40</b> described above in conjunction with <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 9</figref>.

0190The signal-recovery unit <b>146</b> recovers the modulated pilot subcarriers <o>y</o>^(p,p)of the primary OFDM signal during simultaneous-transmission periods while both the primary and secondary transmitters <b>44</b>₀and <b>44</b>₁(<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref>) are respectively transmitting the primary and secondary OFDM signals.

0191The channel estimator <b>148</b> estimates the channel <b>130</b>₀(<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref>) between the primary transmitter <b>44</b>₀and the primary receiver <b>46</b>₀(<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref>) in response to the modulated pilot subcarriers of the received signal y^(p)during a mono-transmission period while only the primary transmitter <b>44</b>₀is transmitting. But during a simultaneous-transmission period while both the primary and secondary transmitters <b>44</b>₀and <b>44</b>₁are transmitting, the channel estimator <b>148</b> generates <o>y</o>^(p)per equation (35) above, and estimates, per equation (25) above, a concatenation vector <o>ĥ</o>^(s,p)that characterizes the channel <b>130</b>₂between the secondary transmitter and the primary receiver <b>46</b>₀, in response to y^(p), and estimates the channel <b>130</b>₀between the primary transmitter and the primary receiver in response to the modulated primary pilot subcarriers <o>y</o>^(p,p)recovered by the signal-recovery unit <b>146</b>.

0192The signal detector <b>150</b> detects, in response to y^(p), whether both the primary and secondary transmitters <b>44</b>₀and <b>44</b>₁are transmitting. If the detector <b>150</b> detects that both the primary and secondary transmitters <b>44</b>₀and <b>44</b>₁are transmitting (i.e., a simultaneous-transmission period), then the detector activates the signal-recovery unit <b>146</b> to recover the primary pilot subcarriers <o>y</o>^(p,p). But if the detector <b>150</b> does not detect that both the primary and secondary transmitters <b>44</b>₀and <b>44</b>₁are transmitting (i.e., a mono-transmission, or a no-transmission period), then the detector deactivates the signal-recovery unit <b>146</b> such that the primary receiver <b>46</b>₀may operate in a conventional manner to recover the data from the data subcarriers of the primary OFDM signal.

0193<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 18</figref> is a diagram of the signal-recovery unit <b>146</b> of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 17</figref> according to an embodiment. The time-domain signal y_primary_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_receiverthat the primary receiver <b>46</b>₀receives at the antenna <b>50</b>₀(<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 17</figref>) is a combination of the primary and secondary OFDM signals transmitted by the primary and secondary receivers <b>44</b>₀and <b>44</b>₁(<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref>), respectively. Because the primary OFDM signal carries data on its data subcarriers, and because the secondary pilot-symbol-pattern P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽¹⁾is an APPC pilot-symbol pattern as discussed above in conjunction with <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 8</figref>, the primary receiver <b>46</b>₀effectively recovers the pilot subcarriers of the primary OFDM signal from the combination of these pilot subcarriers and the pilot subcarriers of the secondary OFDM signal so that the primary receiver can use the recovered primary pilot subcarriers to estimate the channel <b>130</b>₀(<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref>) between the primary transmitter <b>44</b>₀and primary receiver, and, ultimately, to recover the data from the primary data subcarriers in response to the estimated channel. The primary receiver <b>46</b>₀performs this recovery because the guard subcarriers of the secondary pilot clusters may interfere with the data subcarriers of the primary OFDM signal, and so the primary pilot subcarriers <o>y</o>^(p,p)are recovered in a manner that takes such potential interference into account. As discussed below, the primary receiver <b>46</b>₀recovers the pilot subcarriers of the primary OFDM signal by determining the contribution <o>y</o>^(s,p)of the secondary pilot subcarriers to <o>y</o>^(p), and then effectively subtracting this contribution from <o>y</o>^(p)to yield the primary pilot subcarriers <o>y</o>^(p,p).

0194The signal-recovery unit <b>146</b> includes a generator <b>160</b> for generating ø_l⁽ⁱ⁾per equation (37) above, a generator <b>162</b> for generating quantities δ_l⁽ⁱ⁾, a generator <b>164</b> for generating α_iper equation (21) above, a generator <b>166</b> for generating a vector <o>ŷ</o>^(s,p)(as discussed above, the “^” indicates that the quantity is an estimate) a generator <b>168</b> for generating q_l^(i)Hper equation (36) above, and a generator <b>170</b> for generating a vector <o>ŷ</o>^(p,p). The signal-recovery unit <b>146</b> may also include a memory (not shown in <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 18</figref>) for storing values for quantities (e.g., scalars, vectors, matrices) that are calculated dynamically or ahead of time as discussed above; alternatively, the memory may be located elsewhere in the primary receiver <b>46</b>₀.

0195Referring to <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 17 and 18</figref>, the operation of the primary receiver <b>46</b>₀is described according to an embodiment. For example purposes, it is assumed that the pilot-symbol-pattern matrix used by the primary transmitter <b>44</b>₀is P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽⁰⁾, the pilot-symbol-pattern matrix used by the secondary transmitter <b>44</b>₁is P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽¹⁾, and the primary receiver <b>46</b>₀“knows” that the primary and secondary transmitters <b>44</b>₀and <b>44</b>₁respectively use P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽⁰⁾and P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽¹⁾. Furthermore, it is assumed that the secondary transmitter <b>44</b>₁uses all values

0196<maths id="MATH-US-00015" num="00015"><math overflow="scroll"><mrow><mn>2</mn><mo>≤</mo><mi>i</mi><mo>≤</mo><mrow><mo>⌊</mo><mfrac><msub><mi>N</mi><mi>P</mi></msub><mi>Z</mi></mfrac><mo>⌋</mo></mrow></mrow></math></maths><br /> to generate the data-symbol-patterns P_data_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾.

0197During a mono-transmission period while only the primary transmitter <b>44</b>₀(<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref>) is transmitting a primary OFDM signal, the signal detector <b>150</b> disables the signal-recovery unit <b>146</b>.

0198Consequently, the FFT unit <b>140</b> may conventionally generate y^(p)=y^(p,p)+n^(p), where n^(p)is noise generated by the primary receiver <b>46</b>₀, not by the channel <b>130</b>₀(FIG. <b>15</b>)—y^(p)=y^(p,p)+n^(p)because there is no secondary OFDM signal being received by the primary receiver. And, in response to y^(p,p), the channel estimator <b>148</b> may conventionally generate a channel-estimation matrix Ĥ^(p,p)for the primary channel <b>130</b>₀between the primary transmitter <b>44</b>₀(<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref>) and the primary receiver <b>46</b>₀—the channel estimator may account for the noise n^(p)in a conventional manner, or may ignore it. For example, the channel estimator <b>148</b> may operate in a manner similar to the VSSO Kalman MIMO-OFDM channel estimator described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/284,879, filed Oct. 29, 2011, Ser. No. 13/284,890 filed Oct. 29, 2011, Ser. No. 13/284,894 filed Oct. 29, 2011, and Ser. No. 13/284,898 filed Oct. 29, 2011, which are incorporated by reference.

0199The data-recovery unit <b>142</b> may conventionally recover the data symbols {circumflex over (x)} from the data subcarriers of the primary OFDM signal in response to Ĥ^(p,p), and the data-decoder unit <b>144</b> may conventionally decode the recovered data symbols {circumflex over (x)}.

0200Still referring to <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 17 and 18</figref>, during a simultaneous-transmission period while both the primary transmitter <b>44</b>₀(<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref>) and the secondary transmitter <b>44</b>₁(<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref>) are respectively transmitting primary and secondary OFDM signals, the signal detector <b>150</b> enables the signal-recovery unit <b>146</b>.

0201Consequently, the FFT unit <b>140</b> may conventionally generate y^(p)=y^(p,p)+y^(s,p)+n^(p)and, in response to y^(s,p), the channel estimator <b>148</b> may conventionally generate a concatenation vector <o>ĥ</o>^(s,p)per equation (26) above, and may conventionally generate <o>y</o>^(p)per equation (35) above. In an embodiment, the channel estimator <b>148</b> may be able to generate <o>ĥ</o>^(s,p)because the secondary pilot-symbol-pattern matrix P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽¹⁾is orthogonal to the primary pilot-symbol-pattern matrix pilot P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽⁰⁾as discussed above in conjunction with <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 14</figref>. For example, the channel estimator <b>148</b> may generate <o>ĥ</o>^(s,p)in a manner similar to the VSSO Kalman MIMO-OFDM channel estimator described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/284,879, filed Oct. 29, 2011, Ser. No. 13/284,890 filed Oct. 29, 2011, Ser. No. 13/284,894 filed Oct. 29, 2011, and Ser. No. 13/284,898 filed Oct. 29, 2011, which are incorporated by reference.

0202Next, in response to y^(p), <o>ĥ</o>^(s,p), and <o>y</o>^(p), the signal-recovery unit <b>146</b> generates <o>ŷ</o>^(p,p), as further described below in conjunction with <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 18</figref>.

0203Then, in response to <o>ŷ</o>^(p,p), the channel estimator <b>148</b> may conventionally generate the channel-estimation matrix Ĥ^(p,p)for the primary channel <b>130</b>₀(<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 15</figref>) between the primary transmitter <b>44</b>₀(<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref>) and the primary receiver <b>46</b>₀in a manner similar to that described above in conjunction with the mono-transmission period.

0204Next, the data-recovery unit <b>142</b> may conventionally recover the data symbols {circumflex over (x)} from the data subcarriers of the primary OFDM signal in response to y^(p)and Ĥ^(p,p), and the data-decoder unit <b>144</b> may conventionally decode the recovered data symbols.

0205Referring to <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 18</figref>, the operation of the signal-recovery unit <b>146</b> during a simultaneous-transmission period is described according to an embodiment.

0206First, the generator <b>160</b> generates ø_l⁽ⁱ⁾for

0207<maths id="MATH-US-00016" num="00016"><math overflow="scroll"><mrow><mn>1</mn><mo>≤</mo><mi>i</mi><mo>≤</mo><mrow><mo>⌊</mo><mfrac><msub><mi>N</mi><mi>P</mi></msub><mi>Z</mi></mfrac><mo>⌋</mo></mrow></mrow></math></maths><br /> and 0≦l≦Z−1 per equation (37) above.

0208Next, the generator <b>168</b> generates (or has previously stored) values for q_l^(i)Hfor

0209<maths id="MATH-US-00017" num="00017"><math overflow="scroll"><mrow><mn>1</mn><mo>≤</mo><mi>i</mi><mo>≤</mo><mrow><mo>⌊</mo><mfrac><msub><mi>N</mi><mi>P</mi></msub><mi>Z</mi></mfrac><mo>⌋</mo></mrow></mrow></math></maths><br /> per equation (36) above.

0210Then, in response to ø_l⁽ⁱ⁾and q_l^(i)Hfor

0211<maths id="MATH-US-00018" num="00018"><math overflow="scroll"><mrow><mn>2</mn><mo>≤</mo><mi>i</mi><mo>≤</mo><mrow><mo>⌊</mo><mfrac><msub><mi>N</mi><mi>P</mi></msub><mi>Z</mi></mfrac><mo>⌋</mo></mrow></mrow></math></maths><br /> and 0≦l≦Z−1, and in response to <o>ĥ</o>^(s,p), the generator <b>162</b> generates δ_l⁽ⁱ⁾for

0212<maths id="MATH-US-00019" num="00019"><math overflow="scroll"><mrow><mn>2</mn><mo>≤</mo><mi>i</mi><mo>≤</mo><mrow><mo>⌊</mo><mfrac><msub><mi>N</mi><mi>P</mi></msub><mi>Z</mi></mfrac><mo>⌋</mo></mrow></mrow></math></maths><br /> and 0≦l≦Z−1 according to the following equation: <br />δ_l⁽ⁱ⁾<i>=q</i>_l^(i)Hø_l⁽ⁱ⁾<i><o>ĥ</o></i>^(s,p)(<i>lQ→lQ+Q−</i>1)  (39)<br /> where (lQ→lQ+Q−1) indicates entries from lQ to lQ+Q−1 of <o>ĥ</o>^(s,p)

0213Because <o>y</o>^(p)is the combination of <o>y</o>^(p,p)and <o>y</o>^(s,p), ignoring receiver-induced noise (which may be negligible), the following equations are true: <br /><i><o>y</o></i>^(p)<i>= <o>y</o></i>^(p,p)<i>+ <o>y</o></i>^(s,p)  (40)<br /><i>q</i>_l^(i)H<i><o>y</o></i>^(p)<i>=q</i>_l^(i)H<i><o>y</o></i>^(p,p)<i>+q</i>_l^(i)H<i><o>y</o></i>^(s,p)  (41)

0214But because P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽⁰⁾is orthogonal to P_pilot_{<sub2>—secondary</sub2>}⁽¹⁾and P_data_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾: <br /><i>q</i>_l^(i)H<i><o>y</o></i>^(p,p)=0  (42)<br /> for

0215<maths id="MATH-US-00020" num="00020"><math overflow="scroll"><mrow><mn>1</mn><mo>≤</mo><mi>i</mi><mo>≤</mo><mrow><mrow><mo>⌊</mo><mfrac><msub><mi>N</mi><mi>P</mi></msub><mi>Z</mi></mfrac><mo>⌋</mo></mrow><mo>.</mo></mrow></mrow></math></maths><br /> Consequently, equation (41) reduces to the following equation for

0216<maths id="MATH-US-00021" num="00021"><math overflow="scroll"><mrow><mn>1</mn><mo>≤</mo><mi>i</mi><mo>≤</mo><mrow><mrow><mo>⌊</mo><mfrac><msub><mi>N</mi><mi>P</mi></msub><mi>Z</mi></mfrac><mo>⌋</mo></mrow><mo>⁢</mo><mstyle><mtext>:</mtext></mstyle></mrow></mrow></math></maths><br /><i>q</i>_l^(i)H<i><o>y</o></i>^(p)<i>=q</i>_l^(i)H<i><o>y</o></i>^(s,p)  (43)

0217And because q_l^(i)Hand <o>y</o>^(p)are known, q_l^(i)H<o>y</o>^(s,p)of equations (41) and (43) are also known for

0218<maths id="MATH-US-00022" num="00022"><math overflow="scroll"><mrow><mn>1</mn><mo>≤</mo><mi>i</mi><mo>≤</mo><mrow><mrow><mo>⌊</mo><mfrac><msub><mi>N</mi><mi>P</mi></msub><mi>Z</mi></mfrac><mo>⌋</mo></mrow><mo>.</mo></mrow></mrow></math></maths>

0219Next, the generator <b>164</b> generates {circumflex over (α)}_ifor

0220<maths id="MATH-US-00023" num="00023"><math overflow="scroll"><mrow><mn>2</mn><mo>≤</mo><mi>i</mi><mo>≤</mo><mrow><mo>⌊</mo><mfrac><msub><mi>N</mi><mi>P</mi></msub><mi>Z</mi></mfrac><mo>⌋</mo></mrow></mrow></math></maths><br /> according to the following equations: <br /><i>{circumflex over (X)}</i>_i=Hard Decision of {Σ_l=0^Z−1δ_l^(i)*<i>q</i>_l^(i)H<i><o>y</o></i>^(s,p)}  (44)<br /> which may be written as follows per equations (41)-(43): <br /><i>{circumflex over (X)}</i>_i=Hard Decision of {Σ_l=0^Z−1δ_l^(i)*<i>q</i>_l^(i)H<i><o>y</o></i>^(p)}  (45)<br /> where “*” indicates the complex conjugate of δ_l⁽ⁱ⁾. Furthermore,

0221<maths id="MATH-US-00024" num="00024"><math overflow="scroll"><mrow><msub><mover><mi>α</mi><mo>^</mo></mover><mi>i</mi></msub><mo>=</mo><mrow><msqrt><mfrac><mrow><mrow><mo>(</mo><mrow><msub><mi>L</mi><mi>PN</mi></msub><mo>+</mo><msub><mi>L</mi><mi>DN</mi></msub></mrow><mo>)</mo></mrow><mo>⁢</mo><mi>Z</mi></mrow><mrow><msub><mi>L</mi><mi>PN</mi></msub><mo>⁡</mo><mrow><mo>(</mo><mrow><msub><mi>N</mi><mi>P</mi></msub><mo>-</mo><mrow><mn>2</mn><mo>⁢</mo><mi>Z</mi></mrow></mrow><mo>)</mo></mrow></mrow></mfrac></msqrt><mo>⁢</mo><mover><msub><mi>X</mi><mi>i</mi></msub><mo>^</mo></mover></mrow></mrow></math></maths><br /> (46) <br /> where N_Pis the number of pilot clusters in the primary and secondary OFDM signals, and L_PNand L_DNare, respectively, the number of pilot subcarriers in a pilot cluster and the number of data subcarriers in a data cluster.

0222Then, the generator <b>166</b> determines an estimate of <o>y</o>^(s,p)according to the following equation:

0223<maths id="MATH-US-00025" num="00025"><math overflow="scroll"><mtable><mtr><mtd><mrow><msup><mover><mi>y</mi><mover><mi>_</mi><mo>^</mo></mover></mover><mrow><mo>(</mo><mrow><mi>s</mi><mo>,</mo><mi>p</mi></mrow><mo>)</mo></mrow></msup><mo>=</mo><mrow><mrow><mo>(</mo><mrow><mrow><mo>[</mo><mrow><msubsup><mi>∅</mi><mn>0</mn><mrow><mo>(</mo><mn>1</mn><mo>)</mo></mrow></msubsup><mo>⁢</mo><mstyle><mspace width="0.8em" height="0.8ex" /></mstyle><mo>⁢</mo><mi>…</mi><mo>⁢</mo><mstyle><mspace width="0.8em" height="0.8ex" /></mstyle><mo>⁢</mo><msubsup><mi>∅</mi><mrow><mi>Z</mi><mo>-</mo><mn>1</mn></mrow><mrow><mo>(</mo><mn>1</mn><mo>)</mo></mrow></msubsup></mrow><mo>]</mo></mrow><mo>+</mo><mrow><munderover><mo>∑</mo><mrow><mi>i</mi><mo>=</mo><mn>2</mn></mrow><mrow><mo>⌊</mo><mfrac><msub><mi>N</mi><mi>P</mi></msub><mi>Z</mi></mfrac><mo>⌋</mo></mrow></munderover><mo>⁢</mo><mrow><msub><mover><mi>α</mi><mo>^</mo></mover><mi>i</mi></msub><mo>⁡</mo><mrow><mo>[</mo><mrow><msubsup><mi>∅</mi><mn>0</mn><mrow><mo>(</mo><mi>i</mi><mo>)</mo></mrow></msubsup><mo>⁢</mo><mstyle><mspace width="0.8em" height="0.8ex" /></mstyle><mo>⁢</mo><mi>…</mi><mo>⁢</mo><mstyle><mspace width="0.8em" height="0.8ex" /></mstyle><mo>⁢</mo><msubsup><mi>∅</mi><mrow><mi>Z</mi><mo>-</mo><mn>1</mn></mrow><mrow><mo>(</mo><mi>i</mi><mo>)</mo></mrow></msubsup></mrow><mo>]</mo></mrow></mrow></mrow></mrow><mo>)</mo></mrow><mo>⁢</mo><msup><mover><mi>h</mi><mover><mi>_</mi><mo>^</mo></mover></mover><mrow><mo>(</mo><mrow><mi>s</mi><mo>,</mo><mi>p</mi></mrow><mo>)</mo></mrow></msup></mrow></mrow></mtd><mtd><mrow><mo>(</mo><mn>47</mn><mo>)</mo></mrow></mtd></mtr></mtable></math></maths>

0224Next, the generator <b>170</b> generates an estimate of <o>y</o>^(p,p)according to the following equation: <br /><i><o>ŷ</o></i>^(p,p)<i>= <o>y</o></i>^(p)<i>− <o>ŷ</o></i>^(s,p)  (48)

0225Referring to <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 17</figref>, as discussed above, the channel estimator <b>148</b> generates the channel-estimation matrix Ĥ^(p,p)in response to <o>ŷ</o>^(p,p), and, in response to Ĥ^(p,p), the data-recovery unit <b>142</b> recovers the data {circumflex over (x)} from the data subcarriers of the primary OFDM signal transmitted the primary transmitter <b>44</b>₀(<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref>)

0226Referring to <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 17 and 18</figref>, alternate embodiments of the primary receiver <b>46</b>₀are contemplated. For example, the primary receiver <b>46</b>₀may also recover the data carried by the pilot subcarriers of the secondary OFDM signal transmitted by the secondary transmitter <b>44</b>₁from {circumflex over (X)}_l, which the signal-recovery unit <b>146</b> determines per equation (45) above. Furthermore, the primary receiver <b>46</b>₀may operate in a manner similar to that described above where there are multiple secondary transmitters <b>44</b> transmitting secondary OFDM signals during a simultaneous-transmission period. In addition, the order in which the generators <b>160</b>, <b>162</b>, <b>164</b>, <b>166</b>, <b>168</b>, and <b>170</b> perform their respective operations may be different than described above. Moreover, because the elements of <o>y</o>^(p)are a subset of the elements of y^(p), then the signal-recovery unit <b>146</b> may derive the elements of <o>y</o>^(p)directly from the elements of y^(p)instead of receiving <o>y</o>^(p)from the channel estimator <b>148</b>. In addition, any components of the primary receiver <b>46</b>₀may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software.

0227<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 19</figref> is a diagram of the secondary receiver <b>46</b>₁of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref> according to an embodiment, and according to the above-described example where the transmitter-receiver system <b>40</b> (<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref>) includes a primary transmitter <b>44</b>₀for transmitting a primary OFDM signal, a secondary transmitter <b>44</b>₁for transmitting a secondary OFDM signal, a primary receiver <b>46</b>₀for recovering data from the primary OFDM signal, and the secondary receiver <b>46</b>₁for recovering data from the secondary OFDM signal.

0228The secondary receiver <b>46</b>₁includes an FFT unit <b>180</b>, a mono-transmission-mode data-recovery unit <b>182</b>, a simultaneous-transmission-mode data-recovery unit <b>184</b>, a data-decoder unit <b>186</b>, a channel estimator <b>188</b>, and a signal detector <b>190</b>.

0229The FFT unit <b>180</b> generates a frequency-domain received-signal column vector y^(s), and may be similar to the FFT units <b>34</b> and <b>140</b> described above in conjunction with <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 9 and 17</figref>, respectively.

0230The mono-transmission-mode data-recovery unit <b>182</b> recovers data {circumflex over (x)} from the data subcarriers of the secondary OFDM signal y^(s,s)while the secondary transmitter <b>44</b>₁(<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref>) is the only transmitter in the system <b>40</b> (<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref>) that is transmitting a signal. The mono-transmission-mode data-recovery unit <b>182</b> may be similar to the data-recovery units <b>38</b> and <b>142</b> described above in conjunction with <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 9 and 17</figref>, respectively.

0231The simultaneous-transmission-mode data-recovery unit <b>184</b> recovers data {circumflex over (X)}_ifrom the modulated pilot subcarriers <o>y</o>^(s,s)of the secondary OFDM signal during simultaneous-transmission periods while both the primary and secondary transmitters <b>44</b>₀and <b>44</b>₁(<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref>) are respectively transmitting the primary and secondary OFDM signals.

0232The data-decoder unit <b>186</b> decodes the data {circumflex over (x)}_iand {circumflex over (X)}_irecovered by the data-recovery units <b>182</b> and <b>184</b>, respectively, and may be similar to the data-decoder units <b>40</b> and <b>144</b> described above in conjunction with <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 9 and 17</figref>, respectively.

0233The channel estimator <b>188</b> generates the channel-estimation matrix Ĥ^(s,s)for the channel <b>130</b>₃(<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 15</figref>) between the secondary transmitter <b>44</b>₁(<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref>) and the secondary receiver <b>46</b>₁(<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref>) in response to the modulated pilot subcarriers of the received signal y^(s)during a mono-transmission period while only the secondary transmitter <b>44</b>₁is transmitting. But during a simultaneous transmission period while both the primary and secondary transmitters <b>44</b>₀and <b>44</b>₁are transmitting, the channel estimator <b>188</b> generates <o>y</o>^(s)per equation (35) above, and estimates, per equation (25) above and in response to y^(s), a concatenation vector <o>ĥ</o>^(s,s)that characterizes the channel <b>130</b>₃.

0234The signal detector <b>190</b> detects, in response to y^(s), whether both the primary and secondary transmitters <b>44</b>₀and <b>44</b>₁are transmitting. If the detector <b>190</b> detects that both the primary and secondary transmitters <b>44</b>₀and <b>44</b>₁are transmitting (i.e., a simultaneous-transmission period), then the detector activates the data-recovery unit <b>184</b> to recover the data {circumflex over (X)}_ifrom the secondary pilot subcarriers <o>y</o>^(s,s). But if the detector <b>150</b> does not detect that both the primary and secondary transmitters <b>44</b>₀and <b>44</b>₁are transmitting (i.e., a mono-transmission, or a no-transmission period), then the detector deactivates the data-recovery unit <b>184</b> and activates the data-recovery unit <b>182</b>, which may operate in a conventional manner to recover the data from the data subcarriers of the secondary OFDM signal.

0235<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 20</figref> is a diagram of the simultaneous-transmission-mode data-recovery unit <b>184</b> of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 19</figref> according to an embodiment. The time-domain signal y_secondary_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_receiverthat the secondary receiver <b>46</b>₁receives at the antenna <b>50</b>₁(<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 19</figref>) is a combination of the primary and secondary OFDM signals transmitted by the primary and secondary receivers <b>44</b>₀and <b>44</b>₁(<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref>), respectively, during a simultaneous-transmission period. Because the secondary OFDM signal carries data on its pilot subcarriers, the data-recovery unit <b>184</b> recovers the data {circumflex over (X)}_ifrom the secondary pilot subcarriers in response to the estimated concatenation vector <o>ĥ</o>^(s,s), which characterizes the channel <b>130</b>₃(<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 15</figref>) between the secondary transmitter and the secondary receiver <b>46</b>₁.

0236The data-recovery unit <b>184</b> includes a generator <b>200</b> for generating matrices ø_l⁽ⁱ⁾per equation (37) above, a generator <b>202</b> for generating quantities δ_l⁽ⁱ⁾, a generator <b>204</b> for generating the data symbols {circumflex over (X)}_i, and a generator <b>206</b> for generating vectors q_l^(i)Hper equation (36) above. The data-recovery unit <b>184</b> may also include a memory (not shown in <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 20</figref>) for storing values for quantities that are calculated dynamically or ahead of time as discussed above; alternatively, the memory may be located elsewhere in the secondary receiver <b>46</b>₁.

0237Referring to <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 19 and 20</figref>, the operation of the secondary receiver <b>46</b>₁is described according to an embodiment. For example purposes, it is assumed that the pilot-symbol-pattern matrix used by the primary transmitter <b>44</b>₀(<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref>) is P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽⁰⁾, the pilot-symbol-pattern matrix used by the secondary transmitter <b>44</b>₁(<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref>) is P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽¹⁾, and the secondary receiver <b>46</b>₁“knows” that the secondary transmitter <b>44</b>₁uses P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽¹⁾(the secondary receiver need not “know” that the primary transmitter uses P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽⁰⁾because P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽⁰⁾is orthogonal to P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽¹⁾). Furthermore, it is assumed that the secondary transmitter <b>44</b>₁uses all values

0238<maths id="MATH-US-00026" num="00026"><math overflow="scroll"><mrow><mn>2</mn><mo>≤</mo><mi>i</mi><mo>≤</mo><mrow><mo>⌊</mo><mfrac><msub><mi>N</mi><mi>P</mi></msub><mi>Z</mi></mfrac><mo>⌋</mo></mrow></mrow></math></maths><br /> to generate the data-symbol-pattern matrices P_data_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾.

0239During a mono-transmission period while only the secondary transmitter <b>44</b>₁(<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref>) is transmitting a secondary OFDM signal, the signal detector <b>190</b> disables the data-recovery unit <b>184</b>.

0240Consequently, the FFT unit <b>180</b> may conventionally generate y^(s)=y^(s,s)+n^(s), where n^(s)is noise generated by the secondary receiver <b>46</b>₁, not by the channel—y^(s)=y^(s,s)+n^(s)because there is no primary OFDM signal being received by the secondary receiver. And, in response to y^(s,s), the channel estimator <b>188</b> may conventionally generate a channel-estimation matrix Ĥ^(s,s)for the secondary channel <b>130</b>₃(<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 15</figref>) between the secondary transmitter <b>44</b>₁(<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref>) and the secondary receiver <b>46</b>₁—the channel estimator may account for the noise n^(s)in a conventional manner, or may ignore it. For example, the channel estimator <b>188</b> may operate in a manner similar to the VSSO Kalman MIMO-OFDM channel estimator described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/284,879, filed Oct. 29, 2011, Ser. No. 13/284,890 filed Oct. 29, 2011, Ser. No. 13/284,894 filed Oct. 29, 2011, and Ser. No. 13/284,898 filed Oct. 29, 2011, which are incorporated by reference.

0241The data-recovery unit <b>182</b> may conventionally recover the data symbols {circumflex over (x)} from the data subcarriers of the secondary OFDM signal in response to Ĥ^(s,s), and the data-decoder unit <b>186</b> may conventionally decode the recovered data symbols {circumflex over (x)}.

0242Still referring to <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 19 and 20</figref>, during a simultaneous-transmission period while both the primary transmitter <b>44</b>₀(<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref>) and the secondary transmitter <b>44</b>₁are respectively transmitting primary and secondary OFDM signals, the signal detector <b>190</b> enables the simultaneous-transmission-mode data-recovery unit <b>184</b>.

0243Consequently, the FFT unit <b>180</b> may conventionally generate y^(s)=y^(p,s)+y^(s,s)+n^(s)and, in response to y^(s,s), the channel estimator <b>188</b> may conventionally generate a concatenation vector <o>ĥ</o>^(s,s)per equation (26) above, and may conventionally generate <o>y</o>^(s)per equation (35) above. In an embodiment, the channel estimator <b>188</b> may be able to generate <o>ĥ</o>^(s,s)because the secondary pilot-symbol-pattern matrix P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽¹⁾is orthogonal to the primary pilot-symbol-pattern matrix pilot P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽⁰⁾as discussed above in conjunction with <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 14</figref>. For example, the channel estimator <b>188</b> may generate <o>ĥ</o>^(s,s)in a manner similar to the VSSO Kalman MIMO-OFDM channel estimator described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/284,879, filed Oct. 29, 2011, Ser. No. 13/284,890 filed Oct. 29, 2011, Ser. No. 13/284,894 filed Oct. 29, 2011, and Ser. No. 13/284,898 filed Oct. 29, 2011, which are incorporated by reference.

0244Next, in response to <o>ĥ</o>^(s,s)and <o>y</o>^(s), the data-recovery unit <b>184</b> generates {circumflex over (X)}_ias described below in conjunction with <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 20</figref>.

0245Referring to <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 20</figref>, the operation of the data-recovery unit <b>184</b> during a simultaneous-transmission period is described according to an embodiment.

0246First, the generator <b>200</b> generates matrices ø_l⁽ⁱ⁾for

0247<maths id="MATH-US-00027" num="00027"><math overflow="scroll"><mrow><mn>1</mn><mo>≤</mo><mi>i</mi><mo>≤</mo><mrow><mo>⌊</mo><mfrac><msub><mi>N</mi><mi>P</mi></msub><mi>Z</mi></mfrac><mo>⌋</mo></mrow></mrow></math></maths><br /> and 0≦l≦ Z−1 per equation (37) above.

0248Next, the generator <b>206</b> generates (or has previously stored) values for q_l^(i)Hfor

0249<maths id="MATH-US-00028" num="00028"><math overflow="scroll"><mrow><mn>1</mn><mo>≤</mo><mi>i</mi><mo>≤</mo><mrow><mo>⌊</mo><mfrac><msub><mi>N</mi><mi>P</mi></msub><mi>Z</mi></mfrac><mo>⌋</mo></mrow></mrow></math></maths><br /> per equation (36) above.

0250Then, in response to ø_l⁽ⁱ⁾and q_l^(i)Hfor

0251<maths id="MATH-US-00029" num="00029"><math overflow="scroll"><mrow><mn>2</mn><mo>≤</mo><mi>i</mi><mo>≤</mo><mrow><mo>⌊</mo><mfrac><msub><mi>N</mi><mi>P</mi></msub><mi>Z</mi></mfrac><mo>⌋</mo></mrow></mrow></math></maths><br /> and 0≦l≦Z−1, and in response to <o>ĥ</o>^(s,s), the generator <b>202</b> generates δ_l⁽ⁱ⁾for

0252<maths id="MATH-US-00030" num="00030"><math overflow="scroll"><mrow><mn>2</mn><mo>≤</mo><mi>i</mi><mo>≤</mo><mrow><mo>⌊</mo><mfrac><msub><mi>N</mi><mi>P</mi></msub><mi>Z</mi></mfrac><mo>⌋</mo></mrow></mrow></math></maths><br /> and 0≦i≦Z−1 according to the following equation: <br />δ_l⁽ⁱ⁾<i>=q</i>_l^(i)Hø_l⁽ⁱ⁾<i><o>ĥ</o></i>^(s,s)(<i>lQ→lQ+Q−</i>1)  (49)

0253Because <o>y</o>^(s)is the combination of <o>y</o>^(p,s)and <o>y</o>^(s,s), the following equations are true: <br /><i><o>y</o></i>^(s)<i>= <o>y</o></i>^(p,s)<i>+ <o>y</o></i>^(s,s)  (50)<br />and<br /><i>q</i>_l^(i)H<i><o>y</o></i>^(s)<i>=q</i>_l^(i)H<i><o>y</o></i>^(p,s)<i>+q</i>_l^(i)H<i><o>y</o></i>^(s,s)  (51)

0254But because P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽⁰⁾is orthogonal to P_pilots_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽¹⁾and P_data_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾: <br /><i>q</i>_l^(i)H<i><o>y</o></i>^(p,s)=0  (52)<br /> for

0255<maths id="MATH-US-00031" num="00031"><math overflow="scroll"><mrow><mn>1</mn><mo>≤</mo><mi>i</mi><mo>≤</mo><mrow><mrow><mo>⌊</mo><mfrac><msub><mi>N</mi><mi>P</mi></msub><mi>Z</mi></mfrac><mo>⌋</mo></mrow><mo>.</mo></mrow></mrow></math></maths><br /> Consequently, equation (51) reduces to the following equation for

0256<maths id="MATH-US-00032" num="00032"><math overflow="scroll"><mrow><mn>1</mn><mo>≤</mo><mi>i</mi><mo>≤</mo><mrow><mrow><mo>⌊</mo><mfrac><msub><mi>N</mi><mi>P</mi></msub><mi>Z</mi></mfrac><mo>⌋</mo></mrow><mo>⁢</mo><mstyle><mtext>:</mtext></mstyle></mrow></mrow></math></maths><br /><i>q</i>_l^(i)H<i><o>y</o></i>^(s)<i>=q</i>_l^(i)H<i><o>y</o></i>^(s,s)  (53)

0257And because q_l^(i)Hand <o>y</o>^(s)are known, q_l^(i)H<o>y</o>^(s,s)of equations (51) and (53) is also known for

0258<maths id="MATH-US-00033" num="00033"><math overflow="scroll"><mrow><mn>1</mn><mo>≤</mo><mi>i</mi><mo>≤</mo><mrow><mrow><mo>⌊</mo><mfrac><msub><mi>N</mi><mi>P</mi></msub><mi>Z</mi></mfrac><mo>⌋</mo></mrow><mo>.</mo></mrow></mrow></math></maths>

0259Next, the generator <b>204</b> generates {circumflex over (X)}_ifor

0260<maths id="MATH-US-00034" num="00034"><math overflow="scroll"><mrow><mn>2</mn><mo>≤</mo><mi>i</mi><mo>≤</mo><mrow><mo>⌊</mo><mfrac><msub><mi>N</mi><mi>P</mi></msub><mi>Z</mi></mfrac><mo>⌋</mo></mrow></mrow></math></maths><br /> according to the following equation: <br /><i>{circumflex over (X)}</i>_i=Hard Decision of {Σ_l=0^Z−1δ_l^(i)*<i>q</i>_l^(i)H<i><o>y</o></i>^(s,s)}  (54)<br /> which may be written as follows per equation (53): <br /><i>{circumflex over (X)}</i>_i=Hard Decision of {Σ_l=0^Z−1δ_l^(i)*<i>q</i>_l^(i)H<i><o>y</o></i>^(s)}  (55)<br /> where “*” indicates the complex conjugate of δ_l⁽ⁱ⁾.

0261Referring to <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 19 and 20</figref>, alternate embodiments of the secondary receiver <b>46</b>₁are contemplated. For example, the secondary receiver <b>46</b>₁may operate in a manner similar to that described above where there are multiple secondary transmitters <b>44</b> transmitting secondary OFDM signals during a simultaneous-transmission period. In addition, the order in which the generators <b>200</b>, <b>202</b>, <b>204</b>, <b>206</b>, and <b>208</b> perform their respective operations may be different than described above. Moreover, because the elements of <o>y</o>^(s)are a subset of the elements of y^(s), then the simultaneous-transmission-mode data-recovery unit <b>184</b> may derive the elements of <o>y</o>^(s)directly from the elements of y^(s)instead of receiving <o>y</o>^(s)from the channel estimator <b>188</b>. In addition, the components of the secondary transmitter <b>44</b>₁may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software.

0262<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 21</figref> is a diagram of the primary receiver <b>46</b>₀of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref> according to an embodiment, and according to an example that is similar to the above example, but where the primary transmitter <b>44</b>₀and secondary transmitter <b>44</b>_tuse FDKD pilot clusters (<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 7</figref>) instead of APCC pilot clusters (<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 8</figref>); that is the center columns of the matrices P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽⁰⁾, and P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽¹⁾, and P_data_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾are the same as described above in conjunction with FIGS. <b>14</b> and <b>17</b>-<b>20</b>, but all of the other columns of these matrices equal zero. Therefore, the primary receiver <b>46</b>₀of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 21</figref> may be similar to the primary receiver <b>46</b>₀of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 17</figref>, but without the signal-recovery unit <b>146</b> and the signal detector <b>150</b>. As discussed below, because FDKD pilot clusters are used, the guard subcarriers of the secondary pilot clusters do not interfere with the data subcarriers of the primary OFDM signal, and, therefore, the primary receiver <b>46</b>₀may effectively “ignore” the secondary OFDM signal because P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽⁰⁾is orthogonal to P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽¹⁾and P_data_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾.

0263Referring to equation (41) above, because P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_primary⁽⁰⁾is orthogonal to P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽¹⁾and P_data_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾: <br /><i>q</i>_l^(0)H<i><o>y</o></i>^(s,p)=0  (56)<br />such that<br /><i>q</i>_l^(0)H<i><o>y</o></i>^(p)<i>=q</i>_l^(0)H<i><o>y</o></i>^(p,p)  (57)

0264It follows from equation (57) that the channel estimator <b>148</b> may determine <o>ĥ</o>^(p,p)and Ĥ^(p,p)without “knowing” P_pilot_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽¹⁾and P_data_{<sub2>—</sub2>}_secondary⁽ⁱ⁾, and without even considering the secondary pilot subcarriers of the secondary OFDM signal. For example, the channel estimator <b>148</b> may be a VSSO Kalman estimator as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/284,879, filed Oct. 29, 2011, Ser. No. 13/284,890 filed Oct. 29, 2011, Ser. No. 13/284,894 filed Oct. 29, 2011, and Ser. No. 13/284,898 filed Oct. 29, 2011.

0265Alternate embodiments of the primary receiver <b>46</b>₀of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 21</figref> are contemplated. For example, components of the primary receiver <b>46</b>₀may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software.

0266Furthermore, according to the example described in conjunction with <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 21</figref> where the primary transmitter <b>44</b>₀and secondary transmitter <b>44</b>₁use FDKD pilot clusters (<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 7</figref>) instead of APCC pilot clusters (<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 8</figref>), the secondary receiver <b>46</b>₁of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 19 and 20</figref> may be used without modification.

0267<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 22</figref> is a diagram of a receiver <b>210</b>, which may function as a primary receiver and a secondary receiver according to an embodiment where the primary and secondary transmitters <b>44</b> respectively transmit primary and secondary OFDM signals that include APCC pilot clusters. One may form the receiver <b>210</b> by modifying the receiver <b>46</b>₀of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 17</figref> to include the simultaneous-transmission-mode data-recovery unit <b>184</b> of the receiver <b>46</b>₁of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 19</figref>, by including a channel estimator <b>212</b>, which performs the above-described operations of the channel estimators <b>148</b> and <b>188</b> of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 17 and 19</figref>, respectively, by including a data-recovery unit <b>214</b>, which performs the above-described operations of the data-recovery units <b>142</b> and <b>182</b> of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 17 and 19</figref>, respectively, and by including a signal detector <b>216</b>, which performs the above-described operations of the signal detectors <b>150</b> and <b>190</b> of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 17 and 19</figref>, respectively, which causes the signal-recovery unit <b>146</b> and the data-recovery units <b>184</b> and <b>214</b> to operate appropriately depending on whether the receiver <b>210</b> is operating as a primary or secondary receiver and whether the receiver is operating during a mono- or simultaneous-transmission mode. The receiver <b>210</b> may include the ability to inform transmitters and other receivers whether it is operating as a primary or secondary receiver, and may include the ability to switch dynamically from primary- to secondary-receiver operation.

0268Alternate embodiments of the primary-secondary receiver <b>210</b> are contemplated. For example, components of the receiver <b>210</b> may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software.

0269<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 23</figref> is a diagram of a receiver <b>220</b>, which may function as a primary receiver and a secondary receiver according to an embodiment where the primary and secondary transmitters <b>44</b> respectively transmit primary and secondary OFDM signals that include FDKD pilot clusters. One may form the receiver <b>220</b> by modifying the receiver <b>46</b>₀of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 21</figref> to include the simultaneous-transmission-mode data-recovery unit <b>184</b> of the receiver <b>46</b>₁of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 19</figref>, by including a channel estimator <b>222</b> that performs the above-described operations of the channel estimators <b>148</b> and <b>188</b> of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 21 and 19</figref>, respectively, by including a data-recovery unit <b>224</b> that performs the above-described operations of the data-recovery units <b>144</b> and <b>182</b> of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 21 and 19</figref>, respectively, and by including a signal detector <b>226</b> that performs the above-described operations of the signal detector <b>190</b> of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 19</figref> and that causes the data-recovery units <b>184</b> and <b>224</b> to operate appropriately depending on whether the receiver <b>220</b> is operating as a primary or secondary receiver and whether the receiver is operating during a mono- or simultaneous-transmission mode. The receiver <b>220</b> may include the ability to inform transmitters and other receivers whether it is operating as a primary or secondary receiver, and may include the ability to switch dynamically from primary- to secondary-receiver operation.

0270Alternate embodiments of the primary-secondary receiver <b>220</b> are contemplated. For example, components of the receiver <b>220</b> may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software.

0271<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 24</figref> is a diagram of a transmitter-receiver <b>230</b>, which includes a transmitter <b>232</b>, a receiver <b>234</b>, and a transmit-receive antenna <b>236</b> according to an embodiment. The transmitter <b>232</b> may include a primary transmitter such as the primary transmitter <b>44</b> of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 13</figref>, a secondary transmitter such as the secondary transmitter <b>44</b> of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 14</figref>, a combination primary-secondary transmitter, or a combination of primary and secondary transmitters. Similarly, the receiver <b>234</b> may include a primary receiver such as the primary receiver <b>46</b>₀of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 17</figref> or <b>21</b>, a secondary receiver such as the secondary receiver <b>46</b>₁of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 19</figref>, a primary-secondary receiver such as the primary-secondary receiver <b>210</b> or <b>220</b> of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 22 and 23</figref>, respectively, or a combination of primary and secondary receivers.

0272In operation according to an embodiment, the transmitter <b>232</b> receives data, and generates a primary or secondary OFDM signal that includes the data as described above in conjunction with <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 11A</figref>, <b>11</b>B, <b>13</b>, or <b>14</b>. And the receiver <b>234</b> receives a primary or secondary OFDM signal that includes data, and recovers the data as described above in conjunction with <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 17</figref>, <b>18</b>, <b>19</b>, <b>20</b>, <b>21</b>, <b>22</b>, or <b>23</b>.

0273Alternate embodiments of the transmitter-receiver <b>230</b> are contemplated. For example, the transmitter-receiver <b>230</b> may include components that are omitted from <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 24</figref>. Furthermore, components of the transmitter-receiver <b>230</b> may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software.

0274<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 25</figref> is a diagram of a system <b>240</b>, which includes the transmit-receiver <b>230</b> of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 24</figref> and a controller <b>242</b>, which controls, and receives information from, the transmitter-receiver according to an embodiment. The controller <b>242</b> may be, for example, a microcontroller or a microprocessor, and where the transmitter-receiver <b>230</b> and the controller are ICs, the transmitter-receiver and controller may be on a same die or on a different dies.

0275From the foregoing it will be appreciated that, although specific embodiments have been described herein for purposes of illustration, various modifications may be made without deviating from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Furthermore, where an alternative is disclosed for a particular embodiment, this alternative may also apply to other embodiments even if not specifically stated. Moreover, the components described above may be disposed on a single or multiple IC dies to form one or more ICs, these one or more ICs may be coupled to one or more other ICs to form a device such as a transmitter-receiver, and one or more of such devices may be coupled or otherwise used together to form a system. In addition, any described component or operation may be implemented/performed in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software. Furthermore, one or more components of a described apparatus or system may have been omitted from the description for clarity or another reason. Moreover, one or more components of a described apparatus or system that have been included in the description may be omitted from the apparatus or system.